Glory
This is where the heart of the opera singer lies. If you have the talent, the chops, the determination, and the frilly shirts, then there is nothing sweeter in all of Planet Earth than the adoration that comes from three tiers of people shouting bravo, encore, and other names of cable television channels.
This career is filled with accolades, awards, and adoring fans (many of whom are fellow opera singers). Reviews of your shows can and will hit the newspapers, and nothing feels better than having strangers write about how great you are (and, strangely, nothing feels worse than having them say you stink). It's not easy, but put the work in and it will pay off in the form of hundreds of roses descending from the heavens.
Ask any opera singer why they do what they do, and you'll get a fairly unified response: there's nothing else they'd want to do. It's not for the fame, because opera doesn't have that kind of mainstream appeal. It's certainly not for the money. It's because when the rehearsals are finished, the nerves are set, the curtain rises on opening night, and thousands of pairs of eyes are focused on you, there is no better feeling in the entire world.
No, not even popping a whole roll of bubble wrap. And we all know how awesome that feels.