Harem of European women forcibly taken into Oriental harems—evident for example in the Mozart opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" ("The Abduction from the Seraglio") concerning the attempt of the hero Belmonte to rescue his beloved Konstanze from the "seraglio"/harem of the Pasha Selim; or in Voltaire's "Candide", in chapter 12 of which the old woman relates her experiences of being sold into harems across the Ottoman Empire. Much of Verdi's opera "Il corsaro" takes place in the harem of the Pasha Seid—where Gulnara, the Pasha's favorite, chafes at life in the harem, and longs for freedom and true love. Eventually
Il caso Mortara season. Il caso Mortara Il caso Mortara (The Mortara Case) is an opera in two acts composed by Francesco Cilluffo to an Italian-language libretto by the composer himself, inspired by "The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara" by David Kertzer. The opera was commissioned by the Dicapo Opera Theater, New York, and premiered in February 2010. It is the first Italian opera commissioned to an Italian composer by a New York opera company since the times of Giacomo Puccini at the Metropolitan Opera. "New York Times" critic Anthony Tommasini hailed it as one of the most important events of New York's 2010