Reddit reviews Mozart - Le Nozze di Figaro / Sanford Sylvan, Susan Larson, Jeanne Ommerle, Sue Ellen Kuzma, Frank Kelley, Peter Sellars, Craig Smith, Wiener Symphoniker

I'm pretty sure that what you saw was the Peter Sellars production of "The Marriage of Figaro," which aired on PBS in 1990. The production was set in the present day in Trump Tower.

I saw it too, and remembered that Cherubino (the boy character portrayed by a female singer) looked quite a bit like kd lang and wore a hockey uniform early on.

Here's a link to an Opera News interview with the singer who played the role. You can scroll down for a photo from that production.

Ah, so there is some opera you like already! When I first started studying music in college I wasn't too keen on opera, other than some Wagner excerpts I'd heard. It wasn't until I started seeing opera (live or on DVD) that it really made sense to me. Unless you speak German, French, or Italian (or whatever other language it happens to be in) well enough to understand it when it's sung, it's much harder to really get into audio-only opera, even if you have translations in front of you. But when you can see what's going on, it makes for a much more satisfying experience - especially if you have the aid of subtitles (on DVD) or supertitles (live).

Since your thread here is about Mozart specifically, I'd suggest finding a good DVD recording of Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). It's one of his comic operas, and is riotously funny if done right. Plus, it has some absolutely gorgeous melodies. There are lots of good traditional productions out there, but one of my favorites is one by Peter Sellars that sets the action in a New York Highrise rather than an Italian estate: http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Sanford-Ommerle-Sellars-Symphoniker/dp/B00092ZANG/. If you're a netflix subscriber you can find it, along with a handful of traditional productions, on there.