This article investigated audience judgment of performance quality in opera. On the basis of Boerner's (2004) componential framework of performance quality in opera, a first version of the “questionnaire for the perception of performance quality in music theater” was developed. This questionnaire was validated in two pilot studies with 70 and 39 graduate students in Studies 1 and 2, respectively. In Study 3, the content and the structure of spectators' judgments of performance quality in opera were examined in a field study by interviewing 145 visitors to the opera La forza del destino (Verdi) in Cologne Opera House. Conclusions for further research on reception of opera performance are drawn.
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