Heiner Müller was invited to a conference in Japan on the fate of opera in the 20th and 21st century. He talks about his flight over Siberia and his fascination with this "giant ridge" that he characterizes as the "Asian time preserve of Russia." This is followed by thoughts about the past, present and future of opera and theater. He thinks that in earlier times opera could be a vessel for utopia, but now it is like a fraudulent enterprise: "When everything has been said, the voices become soft and then the opera comes."