I don't think you've missed anything.
Classical music is basically set in stone, there are a million musicians and opera singers and a finite number of "classics". Therefore the only differentiators are:
1) Good looks - (when was the last time you saw a rough looking women on a cello? My god, they all look like a Robert Palmer backing band now). I can assure you, they were all like Susan Boyle 30 years ago
Classical albums by Babes always sell better than usual.
There are better singers than Catherine Jenkins and better Violinists than Vanessa Mae
2) Terrible looks (the dancing dog syndrome)- It may occasionally help if someone very ugly comes onto the scene. The fact that they are even above average stuns the world into mass record sales. ("It's not that the dog is a good dancer, merley that the dog can dance at all")
Being blind also fits into this category (So as not to offend any blind people, please do not read this out aloud)
3) Extreme talent - Pavarotti is obviously exceptional, he needs to be exceptional, looking like he does (not quite terrible enough to fit into category 2 and definitely not into category 1)
So yes, it does seem like an endless loop of people re-hashing the same old material, thinking that, in some way, they can do it better than the last person. They are just doing cover versions, doing the same thing that pop artists get slated for.
Mind you, it's getting harder and harder to get tickets for Beethoven gigs.