Operatic Directors?

I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to give you what you want, but since this thread hasn't gotten of the ground at all, hopefully I can at least kick-start it in the right direction...

Using the parameters you listed for "operatic" direction - "beautiful composition, flowing color, larger than life stories, moving music" - the two names that come to mind first are Kurosawa and Lean (limited to their late careers, due to the 'color' parameter). All the qualifications you listed are there in the masterpieces (Ran, Lawrence of Arabia, Dersu Uzala, The Bridge on the River Kwai, etc.) as well as the the lesser efforts (Dreams, Doctor Zhivago - fight me on this if you want, but it's weak). You do not just watch these films, you experience them.

Another director that captures this feel for me is Tarkovsky, though he tends toward the poetic more than the operatic. The resultant "gosh, it's pretty" effect is still there everytime though, and is seems like this is along the lines of what you're talking about. Other "also-rans" and "near-misses" that come to mind: Max Ophuls (not always in color, but the sweeping camera movements have that 'operatic' feel), and Bertolucci (I'm thinking Last Emperor and Novecento here), but I'm admittedly less familiar with their work.

Hope this gets things going for you.

Don't forget to check out the king of operatic direction, Luchino Visconti. He was actually a successful opera director in addition to films. His Senso is probably the most like an opera, as well as The Damned. Beautiful images, a beautifully prominent score, and melodrama. Heck, Senso even opens with an opera.

The first one that comes to mind is Brian De Palma.

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