Shades of Giselle, minus the undead virginal avengers known as the Wilis. Seduced and abandoned, a lass from the highlands throws herself into a river—after what amounts to a four-act mad scene. Often singled out as the Polish national opera, Halka dishes up lots of infectious native melody within a framework that is essentially Italianate. Rarely mounted abroad, the opera is in the hands of a largely Polish production team and cast. Yet the heroine is the versatile Corinne Winters, a polyglot American. —M.G.