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A risk that works
By JOHN FLEMING, Times Performing Arts Critic
SARASOTA -- I didn't leave Sarasota Opera on Saturday wondering where Italo Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re (The Love of Three Kings) had been all my life, but I have spent many less entertaining nights in the company of more famous operas. L'amore is the latest in Sarasota artistic director Victor DeRenzi's ongoing project to dig up rarely performed or neglected operas and give them a fresh production to see how they stand up. It is one of the better examples of the value of taking a risk on something other than the standards that are endlessly recycled. Montemezzi (1875-1952) composed a half-dozen operas, but L'amore was the only one to gain a foothold in the repertory. After its premiere in 1913, it was hailed as a masterpiece of the 20th century and was widely performed. It's something of a puzzle why it has virtually dropped out of sight since the 1950s. One possible reason is that the leading role is for a bass. But in the Sarasota production, that was, if anything, an advantage in the powerful presence of Kevin Short as Archibaldo, the medieval barbarian from the North who conquered Italy 40 years earlier and now rules uneasily as an old blind man. Archibaldo arranged the marriage of his son, Manfredo, to an Italian princess, Fiora, and is tormented by his suspicion that she is unfaithful. When Fiora finally admits that she does have a lover, Archibaldo strangles her. This is the second Sarasota production in which Short has committed his talent to playing a big part in an obscure opera. Two years ago, he had the title role of Verdi's first opera, Oberto. Archibaldo is a far more interesting character who leaps to life in Short's commanding performance. Short is not the sort of singer who communicates primarily through the lyrics, which is just as well because Montemezzi's dense orchestration can be tough to penetrate with Italian diction intact. Instead, he possesses a deep richness of tone and remarkable flexibility for such a large voice. The bass gave great meaning to an exhilarating aria to Italy in the first act that introduces Archibaldo as a fierce warrior capable of warmth and tenderness. When he demands of God that he not be kept from the truth about his daughter-in-law, it is a profoundly chilling moment. The relationship between Archibaldo and Fiora is fraught with tension, and soprano Carol Ann Manzi did a good job of portraying a woman who knows, on some level, that she is doomed. Fiora's second-act scene with her lover, Avito, is invariably compared to the passionate duet of Tristan und Isolde, but it didn't feel especially sexual in the performance by Manzi and tenor Daniel Cafiero as a man obsessed with his lover's mouth. Manfredo is a problematic character, rushing home from battle only to be awkwardly received by his wife, and yet he remains forever ardent. Baritone Joshua Benaim didn't solve the problem, with a voice that lacked variety and color. Tenor Andrew Drost sang smartly as Archibaldo's servant, Flaminio. Perhaps L'amore fell out of favor because it is a somewhat derivative work, influenced by Wagner, Debussy and the verismo tradition from which it came, but Montemezzi's score has some effective touches all its own, such as an orchestral interlude that mirrors Fiora's turbulent emotions in the second act. There is deft use of onstage and offstage choruses in the third act. Sem Benelli's libretto is on the flowery side, but that comes with the territory. L'amore dei tre re deals with the operatic basics -- love, betrayal, loyalty and death -- and the Sarasota production, conducted by DeRenzi and directed by John Basil, makes a strong case for its revival. The Pearl Fishers may be Bizet's "other" opera (Carmen being his classic), but it is not without its charms, so much so that this season's Sarasota Opera production is sold out for all seven performances. To meet demand, the company is selling tickets to its final dress rehearsal of the work at 12:30 p.m. Thursday. The rehearsal, normally closed to the public, is scheduled to run like a performance. Tickets are $14-$60. If you go L'amore dei tre re has six performances through March 29 at Sarasota Opera. Tickets: $17-$79.50. (941) 366-8450 or toll-free 1-888-673-7212 or www.sarasotaopera.org.
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