[Mariner]

“because they are a distraction and I know what is going on/being sung anyway”

Like, how many times does one have to hear Violetta’s lamentations to get the picture? lol

Or, Rigoletto’s regrets.

Or the fury of Wotan.

[nopardons]

Or Pagliacci's weepy and snarling and then weepy lament, or Madama Butterfly's heartbreak, and on and on and on! :-)

And then there's Prince Calaf's aria, NESSUM DORMA, in Turandot, and I couldn't care less, if I tried, about the words! The same is true for The Queen of the Night's opening aria and almost all of the rest of THE MAGIC FLUTE.