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 Postino (opera) by Catán's lovely score is universal: the safely melodious terrain of international opera." It was a view echoed by Joshua Kosman in the "San Francisco Chronicle" who described the opera as a "lovely though limited" work and wrote that "operagoers who complain that they don't write 'em like they used to can take comfort from "Il Postino"". Filmed during the premiere run with the original cast in October 2010, this recording was first broadcast in 2011 as part of the PBS television series Great Performances and was released on DVD the following year. Il Postino (opera) Il Postino is an