Prologue. Mare o monti : two summer festivals -- Knowing the score. Setting the stage ; Transmission versus tradition ; Scandal and scholarship ; The romance of the critical edition -- Intermezzo. Scholars and performers : the case of Semiramide -- Performing the opera. Choosing a version ; Serafin's scissors ; Ornamenting Rossini ; Higher and lower : transposing Bellini and Donizetti ; Words and music : texts and translations ; Instruments old and new ; From the score to the stage -- Coda. Two kings head North : transforming Italian opera in Scandinavia.