Is there something wrong with recordings of operas without recitatives? A common practice in the time of the composers. But the story drama is lost, we rely entirely on the music. Is an opera just or mostly music? Opera must still be explained as a form. Wagner failed at this.
La Bruyère thought opera a failed form which relied on the visual for effect, foresaw cinema in his ironic pledge for machine effects. Saying opera is the same as greek tragedy is deeply mistaken. Opera relies on overarching narration which is not always felt in single arias.