Headed out this past weekend to Gowanus, to see LoftOpera’s final performance of The Rape of Lucretia. I always love Benjamin Britten (or, really, early 20th century British composers in general), and I’d never seen Lucretia staged, so it seemed a no-brainer choice.

The opera lived up to my expectations – not just great music, but strong singing, innovative staging, and some good ballet wedged in to boot. More broadly, I was excited and impressed by LoftOpera as a whole. The company strives to provide younger artists the opportunity to perform lead roles in paid positions, while keeping tickets affordable and performances interesting and intimate. As the Wall Street Journal put it, “LoftOpera offers a paradox: an embrace of highbrow establishment pomp as retold by riders of the G train.”

It’s the kind of thing that makes New York City great, vital and alive. Their 2016 season looks excellent: Puccini’s Tosca, Rossini’s Le Comte Ory, Mozart’s Così fan tutti and Weill’s Mahagonny. If you like opera, or even if you think you don’t, I’d strongly recommend checking them out.