There are ways to attend an opera in Washington at a ticket price that will not make you cry. The easiest way is to go to a performance from one of the smaller or collegiate companies, where the reasonable ticket price will translate into hearing lesser singers or a piano or small instrumental ensemble instead of a full orchestra. If you want the true experience of opera, however — that "exotic and irrational entertainment" described......

Washington National Opera premieres its final production of the season for an already sold-out house tomorrow night (May 13, 7 p.m.), Rossini's charming, hilarious comic opera L'Italiana in Algeri. I have already recommended it, but I saw the dress rehearsal on Wednesday night and am especially confident that it's a great introduction to the delights of opera for a first-time opera goer. Also, the Generation O program has offered a limited number of reduced-price tickets......