Mercadante was the most important composer in Italy in the period before Verdi, when Rossini and Donizetti were both resident in Paris. This opera established a new direction for Italian opera, with arias and cabalettas streamlined to maximize dramatic flow, vocal melodies imbued with colors and emotions specific to the dramatic situation, and more prominence given to the orchestra.

The result is a dramatically taut, expressive, and visceral work more reminiscent of Verdi’s dramatic middle period. Returning to WCO to head the cast are Elizabeth Futral (Elaisa) and Donnie Ray Albert (Manfredo), so outstanding as Desdemona in Rossini’s Otello and Luisa’s father in Luisa Miller, respectively. Making his WCO debut is James Valenti, a young American tenor building an impressive career in Europe singing Verdi and Puccini roles.