This coming Friday, the Portland Opera will mark its 50th season with a production of Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus. While this performance may particularly appeal to lovers of classic opera, General Director Christopher Mattaliano also hopes the larger community will embrace the art form.

"Opera started as a very popular art form," he explains. "And invariably, people that come to the opera are very pleasantly surprised by how accessible it is, how beautiful it is and how entertaining it's capable of being."

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Source: http://www.opb.org