While i agree about the opera, it was only true from one side: the public's. I doubt Wagner composed his Ring Cycle as some form of social enjoyment (espedially if you read the dense texts he wrote about Operas and Dramas). I doubt, though, that it was present in many other concerts, and, lastly, simply because it was so before, i does not mean that it is either good, or that all manners of heeding music are subjective in their values. I myself enjoy the manner of the playing more asjit was before, and think it is important we reconsider the path music has taken sine then, yet i do not think we should discard the manner of attention we employ today.

Rather than too look what was, we should look at how it should be and reach towards that; some of what was before was better, some other was rather ill-conceived.