Mefistofele

Jeune Lune has gotten so good at opera that almost everything it does in the genre deserves mention. The company’s strategy involves stripping away layers of orchestration from the score, because it can neither afford a full orchestra nor fit one into its space. The result has been opera productions that are short, punchy, and intimate, with a cast of singers who also happen to have great acting skills. This time, artistic director Dominique Serrand and singers Bradley Greenwald, Christina Baldwin, and Jennifer Baldwin Peden heat up Mefistofele, a little-known Italian opera that’s based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s telling of Faust. 105 N. First St., Minneapolis; 612-333-6200; www.jeunelune.org