Some of the area's top voices will perform selections from the operas "La Traviata" and "Hansel and Gretel" at the Bismarck Civic Chorus' season opener at 7:30 tonight in Belle Mehus City Auditorium.

"Opera is an important part of western culture," Tom Porter, chorus director, said. "Before 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Days of Our Lives,' opera was the showcase for love and betrayal and complicated stories and fantasies."

He compares watching "opera singers with incredible skill, rather like watching an athlete execute a perfect play."

For its 30th anniversary season, the chorus' "An Evening at the Opera" will have sets designed for the occasion, and there will be a guest appearance by the Northern Plains Dance Academy.

Porter said both operas are among the most popular around the world. "La Traviata" was written by Giuseppi Verdi and first performed in 1853.

"Traviata is a wonderful example of the many layers of opera stories," he said. "You have a heroine who is dying - and yet able to sing incredibly difficult music - lovers who are pulled apart, only to reunite in the end, and exuberant chorus numbers like 'The Drinking Song,' which is a popular cell-phone ringtone."

Tickets are available at Herberger's, Eckroth Music, Latitudes Gallery and Gifts or at the door.

Tickets are $12 for adults, and $8 for seniors and students.

For more information, call 355-4458.