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
Opera Pacific in the Festival of Opera." The first productions included such traditional repertory as "Madame Butterfly", "The Marriage of Figaro", and "The Barber of Seville"; "I Pagliacci" and "The Devil and Daniel Webster" were presented as a double billing during the 1965 season. In the early 1980s members of the "Opera Leaque", along with other opera aficionados throughout Orange County, combined to form the core audience for the anticipated opening of the Orange County Performing Arts Center in neighboring Costa Mesa, at which time Opera Pacific was incorporated. Opera Pacific has been host to many of opera's greatest living legends, including