Opera: Small is beautiful?

With opera companies cutting back and shutting down, does the medium's future lie in chamber opera? Could be, but that may require a change of scene from the large venues in which so many companies perform, Edward Ortiz writes in NewMusicBox:

http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=5825

Update: Small can also be impermanent. Anthony Amato, shuts down his venerable chamber opera company in New York because, at 88, he's ready to retire and fears the Amato Opera's "quality would suffer without his dedication," Daniel J. Wakin reports in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/arts/music/13amat.html?_r=1&ref=arts