Music: Romp in the Rockies

Opera rang out loud, clear and in English in the Rockies. The scene: the 73-year-old stone opera house in Central City, Colo., nugget-size (pop. 706) old mining town 40 miles west of Denver. The musical bill consisted of a pair of breezily staged one-acters: an English version of The Beautiful Galatea, by 19th Century Franz von ŚSuppeé, and Amelia Goes to the Ball, by today's Gian-Carlo (The Consul) Menotti.

Thanks to music-loving tourists, including matinee crowds in shorts and shirt sleeves, the old opera house (capacity: 737) generally held more people at last week's performances than there are in the...