The Legacy Of “Tommy”: Rock Opera Thrives (Sort Of)

“Rock opera has had a spotty history, but by now the barriers between high and low art, between classical and pop music, have been so thoroughly demolished that something was bound to have happened. And, in fact, rockers are welcomed into the opera house and concert hall like never before. Meanwhile, classical composers appropriate from the pop world like crazy. … The only problem with all this is that very little rock opera is opera, and very, very little of it is any good.”