István Kertész (conductor) "Fidelio" and "La bohème". In March 1960, Kertész was invited to become General Music Director of the Augsburg Opera—a post especially created for him. There he conducted performances of Mozart's "The Magic Flute", "The Abduction from the Seraglio", "Così fan tutte", and "The Marriage of Figaro", earning himself a reputation as one of the finest interpreters of Mozart's work. With exhilarating performances of Verdi's "Rigoletto", "Don Carlos", "Otello" and "Falstaff", and Richard Strauss's "Salome", "Arabella", and "Der Rosenkavalier", Kertész also proved himself a master of the finest of Italian Romantic operas. Invited to the Salzburg Festival, he conducted "The Abduction
Lisette Oropesa at the Ravinia Festival as Susanna in "Le nozze di Figaro", conducted by James Conlon; for Opera New Jersey as Lucia in "Lucia di Lammermoor"; at Arizona Opera as Gilda in "Rigoletto", again as Lucia; and at the New Orleans Opera as Gilda and as Leïla in "Les pêcheurs de perles". In April and May 2012, Oropesa appeared with the Pittsburgh Opera as Konstanze in a production of "The Abduction from the Seraglio" set on the Orient Express in the Pasha's private train car. In October 2012, she again performed the role of Lucia with the Arizona Opera to success.