This plucky little company is now inching its way toward a first decade, and what endears it to Bay Area audiences is that it has its musical priorities straight: good casting, a fine orchestra, and an inspiring conductor. No need for making its productions “relevant,” no perversions of period or intention. Just good, straight delivery, allowing the composer to be heard unencumbered.

And it is those values that make its Abduction from the Seraglio (as it is billed) such a success.

Foremost were the four principals: Heidi Moss as the lost lady, Constanze, paired with Jimmy Kansau as her rescuing Belmonte, and Anja Strauss as the lady's maid, Blondchen, paired with Andrew Cox as the lackey, Pedrillo. Constanze can be a disheartening role, since much of its music is downcast while she awaits her “abduction” from the seraglio, or Turkish harem. But Moss brightened her interpretation considerably, and her long, difficult aria, “Martern aller Arten” (Every kind of torture might lie in wait for me), was the pinnacle of the evening, delivered with both finesse and fury. Tenor Kansau was equally eloquent, especially in Belmonte's moment of failure, “Welch ein Geschick!” (Such a fate!), conveyed with affecting sincerity. (If there is any cavil, it is that Kansau needs to make the delivery of his English dialogue as noble as his singing in German).

Soprano Anja Strauss almost stole the show with her sprightly arias and duets, her every gesture and stance musically tailored to her character. Strauss seems to have an innate feeling for Mozartean style, knowing when to intensify a phrase as well as when to let it float and linger. She was especially affecting in her instructive aria, “Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln” (With tenderness and flattery can I be won), and her German enunciation remained a model throughout. Tenor Cox offered plenty of wry humor, and his romance, “Im Mohrenland gefangen war” (In the land of the Moor”), with its little pizzicato string accompaniment, was fun as well as lyrical.

Mozart wrote an extended quartet (“Ach, mein Leben!”) when the couples are finally reunited, and the men question their partners' fidelity (sounding much like Così fan tutte eight years into the future). While the piece is fraught with repetition, these four singers made it ten minutes of vocal glory.

A pair of exaggerated Turks are the villains of the piece, and basso Roger McCracken took advantage of every opportunity as Osmin, the sabre-rattling overseer. A big fellow with a deep voice and a keen sense of style, McCracken, enlivened his many duets, and his drunken “Vivat Bacchus! Bacchus lebe!” (Long live Bacchus!), with its little syncopated flutes, was a comic joy, as was his final and furious “Ha! Wie will ich triumphieren” (Oh, how I shall triumph!). The other troublesome Turk is the Pasha, who has a serious liking for Constanze. Martin Bell brought a stolid dignity to this speaking role, but seemed far too passive for such a fierce force. Chip Grant's chorus sang its Janissary music with vigor and style.

In support was the Lyric's lively little orchestra, whether sounding purposefully clangorous for Mozart's Turkish marches or languorous for the many passages of eloquent winds and strings. And it was the sensitive conducting of Barnaby Palmer that so expressively shaped and sculpted the opera. This young maestro is a major talent, and whether he is leading Lyric's productions of Puccini, Rossini, or Wagner, he is the guiding artistic force.

The storybook sets, with their airy oriental arches, were well designed for the small stage by Jean-Francois Revon, and David Ransom's lighting for the midnight escape with its scimitar moon was moody and effective. Meghan Muser designed the period costumes, and David Ostwald directed.

If S.F. Lyric Opera is to continue garnering attention and wants to occupy the position of San Francisco's second opera company, then it may have to consider a larger and more compatible performing space. It is evident from the attention it is garnering, that the Lyric Opera is rapidly outgrowing the cramped quarters of the Gould and needs to showcase itself in a more centralized location. This, alongside a larger allocation for sets and costumes, would align its production values with those of its highly successful musical ones, and ensure the company a second, and perhaps more dominant, decade.