Seraglio palace, the other (in the sense of enclosure for wild animals) from Late Latin: "", derived from "serare", to close, which comes from "sera", a door-bar. In the context of the "turquerie" fashion, the seraglio became the subject of works of art, the most famous perhaps being Mozart's Singspiel, "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" ("The Abduction from the Seraglio"). In Montesquieu's "Persian Letters", one of the main characters, a Persian from the city of Isfahan, is described as an occupant of a seraglio. "The Seraglio" may refer specifically to the Topkapı Palace, the residence of the former Ottoman Sultans in
Donald Shanks (bass-baritone) "Norma" with Dame Joan Sutherland, "La bohème" with Luciano Pavarotti, and Banquo in "Macbeth" with Sherrill Milnes. Other roles he became associated with were Zaccharia in "Nabucco", Rocco in "Fidelio", Osmin in "The Abduction from the Seraglio", Boris in "Boris Godunov", Timur in "Turandot", Ramphis in "Aida", Pistol in "Falstaff", Kekal in "The Bartered Bride", Baron Ochs in "Der Rosenkavalier", Nourabad in "The Pearl Fishers", the Commendatore in "Don Giovanni", and a major role in Leoš Janáček's "The Cunning Little Vixen". He created the role of The Maestro in Alan John's 1995 opera "The Eighth Wonder" at the Sydney Opera