November 20-26, 2003

artpicks

L'amico Fritz

opera

Pietro Mascagni entered history as the composer of the 1890 blood-and-thunder Sicilian tragedy Cavalleria rusticana, which changed the course of opera towards stark realism (and brought Godfather III to a sanguinary conclusion). None of his many subsequent works caused such a furor, but the ravishing 1891 L'amico Fritz [My Friend Fritz] has a permanent place in the repertory. Fritz, a rich landowner, boasts he will never fall in love, failing to reckon with the matchmaking skill of his best friend, David, (a rabbi, no less) or the loveliness of Suzel, daughter of one of his tenant farmers. Fritz has a plot as simple and satisfying as a Hollywood romantic comedy; but watching the two lovers warily approach happiness can be deeply moving, as the music is unpretentiously gorgeous, tinged by nostalgia for the vanishing rural order. (This definitely qualifies as a prime "date opera.") The leads have tuneful arias and share in the opera's most famous number, a beautiful duet sung over a bucket of cherries. Temple's Opera Theater gives Fritz a welcome production by Laura Johnson with the experienced John Douglas as musical director.

L'amico Fritz, Fri., Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m. and Sun., Nov. 23, 3 p.m., $12.50-$20, Temple University Opera Theater, Tomlinson Theater, 13th and Norris sts., 215-204-1122.

—David Shengold

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