Polish opera "Fra Diavolo", Weber's "Der Freischütz" and many other operas by Donizetti, Meyerbeer and Rossini. In 1833 Antionio Corazzi, an Italian from Livorno, built a new theatre for the National Opera in Warsaw. The house was opened with a performance of Rossini's "The Barber of Seville". Stanisław Moniuszko is regarded as the true creator of Polish national opera. His role in the Polish tradition is similar to that of Glinka in the Russian, Smetana in the Czech and Ferenc Erkel in the Hungarian. In 1837 Moniuszko returned to Poland after receiving his musical education abroad. Ten years later he wrote the
Virginia Opera Gardner, Sujung Kim, Frank Porretta, Grant Youngblood, Fabiana Bravo, Mary Elizabeth Williams, Nmon Ford, Jeniece Goldbourne, Randall Scarlata, and Thomas Rolf Truhitte. Attracting acclaimed directors from the theater and opera world, the company has given audiences the experience of seeing the work of Gian Carlo Menotti, Gordon Davidson, Greg Ganakas, Arvin Brown, Dorothy Danner, Lillian Groag and Sam Helfrich, among others, in new productions designed by the nation's top opera and theatre designers. The first few seasons consisted of standard works such as "La boheme", "La traviata", "Tosca", "Lucia di Lammermoor" and "The Barber of Seville", all presented in the