An excellent puzzle from Crucible with many devious devices. 24 down originally, mislead me completely but didn’t prevent the answer from revealing itself. I was however defeated by PEN PAL and was convinced that the answer was an eastern pianist maybe called Yen Pol or something similar. Also LEO,15 I did not associate with clue 15, I was convinced that there was an XV in the answer. Hey ho. I did get POLONAISE though without understanding why. The theme to this puzzle was obviously music but it didn’t require any great musical knowledge which made it very accessible. Even if you know very little about Wagner, like myself, you would probably have heard of The Ring Cycle. So, full marks to Crucible and may he compose many more in this vein.

Sil, I would imagine that your problem with OPERA was “Joy unconfined” ie O without being confined by Jy.
Personally, I think this device is a bit loose but I sussed it immediately.

Re APHRODITE: the anagram is HIT + OPERA [24ac] + D[own] ['down originally'].

Well, as I said here before, Crucible is the C of my ABC of favourite setters.
Last night I found it quite a feat that his (Indy) Radian puzzle contained so many words with an anagram of OSCAR in it. Today I find it equally admirable to see so many clues being linked to (classical) music, nearly all in fact.
But there is a risk that this goes at the expense of the electrickery (remember Catweazle?) that made and makes Crucible puzzles stand out from a lot of others.
And, to be honest, I am not completely sure whether this applies to this puzzle or not.

I think, Crucible made the most of it within the limitations of wanting to have all these fine surfaces.
But, there were just like yesterday a lot of anagram-based clues: I’ve counted 14 of them, many in the form of “one letter + anagram” like MAHLER, ADIEU and PIANOS.

Crucible says something about the use of “compound anagrams”.
There were indeed two of them here, but he’d used them many times in the past.
In fact, I think it is one of his ‘trademark’ devices. Comparing the use of this device with Azed is IMO not completely fair – the device is much easier to apply in shorter words. And why some editors think ‘two’s the limit’ for such a device is a mystery to me. There were two long hidden answers too – thát’s OK then?

I found the use of “movie” as an anagrind in 4d just about, and wasn’t happy with ‘only’ an A for ‘Austria-Hungarian’ in 19ac, but did admire a lot of other things.

My absolute favourite today was APHRODITE (16d), followed by DEVICE (1ac) at a certain distance.
And 24ac (OPERA) was the odd one out. In fact, I still don’t fully understand the clue.

My verdict? [I know you were waiting for this ... ].

I know a bit about classical music (although I’m more into pop music eventually) and therefore the puzzle handed me some answers straightaway.
Nevertheless, very well constructed.
For some a “constant delight”, but, to be honest, for me not tricky enough.
Or am I getting used to Crucible’s style? Probably that’s it.

Undeniably good crossword, but too themed to my taste [yes, maybe, tháts it].

I am sure, dear Crucible, you like my PinC’s verdict more than mine …

[but I'll bear with you - you're still my C]

Sorry for the delay in replying – got myself delayed in the kitchen, then the Man United game started and …

Scarpia – I do use Firefox, so thanks for the easy-to-follow guide.

Gaufrid – sorry but I still find myself squinting at the screen