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
Frank Porretta next fourteen years, performing such roles as Alfred in "Die Fledermaus", Alfredo in "La traviata", Apollo in "L'Orfeo", Belmonte in "The Abduction from the Seraglio", the Duke of Mantua in "Rigoletto", Edgar Linton in "Wuthering Heights", Frederic in "The Pirates of Penzance", Lucentio in Vittorio Giannini's "The Taming of the Shrew", Jolidon in "The Merry Widow", Luigi in "Il tabarro", Nanki-Poo in "The Mikado", Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly", Ralph Rackstraw in "H.M.S. Pinafore", Rinuccio in "Gianni Schicchi", Sam Kaplan in "Street Scene", the Sleepwalker in "Louise", Steve in "The Cradle Will Rock", and Vladimir in "Prince Igor" among others. He