"With an operatic aria, whilst there is an underlying story, the main point is to show off the singer's voice."

Just a small nit-pick to set the record straight.

The purpose of an aria in an opera is essentially the same as that of a soliloquy (a dramatic monologue that represents a series of unspoken reflections) in Shakespeare's plays, or in a novel when the author takes you inside a character's head. Simply put, it's a piece of inner dialogue. And this, of course, can be an essential part of the story.

That's the intent that the librettist and the composer have in mind. Whether or not it is a show piece for the singer's voice is the singer's worry. There are a number of operatic arias that are actually not all that difficult to sing.

In most opera houses today, the problem of an opera being in a foreign language is taken care of with "supra-titles;" like the sub-titles in a foreign movie, but projected on a panel just below the proscenium arch above the stage. The Seattle Opera House is so equipped.

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Sin, you're hanging in mid-air twenty feet out from the canyon's rim, just like Wile E. Coyote before he looks down and realizes his situation.

corporeal :   having, consisting of, or relating to a physical material body.

The species we refer to as "elephants" are a corporeal genre. I don't see how the word "corporeal" relates to music of any genre. The idea of "genre" itself is an abstraction.

Don Firth