Carter Brey and Christopher O’Riley (Dec. 19, Kravis Center)

World premieres are always special, but they don’t always suggest that they will make a lasting impact on the culture.

But composer Justin Dello Joio’s Due per Due, which was given its debut by cellist Carter Brey and pianist Christopher O’Riley, is a worthy new work that deserves to be added to the programs of ambitious cellists looking for something new to add to their solo programs.

The first of its two movements began with fragments and wisps of things, including a passage for high harmonics against a clinking of glass in the upper reaches of the piano. But the heart of the movement was a song, highly emotional and lyrical, but also somewhat restrained, just shy of total release.

The second movement, a perpetual-motion romp, had Brey and O’Riley almost continually playing rapid scale figures, which toward the end were regularly interrupted by sudden chordal outbursts. It’s a tough piece to play, but rewarding to listen to, and Brey and O’Riley gave it a stellar performance.

The piece received a warm response from the midsized house, which included the composer himself, who stood and applauded his interpreters.

Also on the program was a somewhat rough-and-ready version of a Bach gamba sonata (No. 3 in G minor, BWV 1029) in which Brey was noticeably out of tune with the piano until midway through the first movement. The principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic showed his true mettle in the second movement, demonstrating a noble, lovely tone that suited the music admirably.

The second half of the program was devoted to the Cello Sonata of Edvard Grieg (in A minor, Op. 36), and here, too, Brey’s beautiful sound quality made the most of the Norwegian composer’s distinctive melodies. O’Riley was a fine accompanist, restraining himself when he could easily have let loose with the pyrotechnics of Grieg’s piano writing.

The encore was a tasteful, elegant Daisies (Op. 38, No. 3), a transcription of the Rachmaninov song. – G. Stepanich

Palm Beach Symphony (Dec. 15, Society of the Four Arts)

A very large audience at the Society of the Four Arts on Dec. 15 heard what the late Sir Thomas Beecham called “lollipops” -- sweet short pieces of a classical nature – for the first concert of the Palm Beach Symphony season.

It also marked the first concert with Ramon Tebar as the group’s music director, and he’s a man with much to celebrate these days: he just won the Henry C. Clark Conductor of the Year award from Florida Grand Opera, and he’s a new father to baby Isabel, born Dec. 8, a week before the concert.

Aaron Copland’s Three Latin-American Sketches began the program. The first sketch has sharp, cutting, staccato rhythms with dissonant tonal passages, distinctly Copland. The second was sensitive and lingering, shaped nicely by Tebar. Working hard in the last sketch, the strings shone and the percussionists outdid themselves.

Next followed Samuel Barber’s justly famous Adagio for Strings. Putting down his baton, Tebar led a golden interpretation, bringing out the long elegiac line as the strings swept up to a climax -- a deafening long pause, then the downward glide to a pianissimo ending. One could hear a pin drop. Cautiously, the audience picked up on a well-deserved ovation for this work, which belongs in the pantheon of great string pieces by Elgar, Holst, Grieg and Warlock.

Before intermission, Copland’s Appalachian Spring got an inconsistent reading. Written in 1931 for the savvy Martha Graham (whom I knew) and her dance company, she took her lead from Igor Stravinsky’s association with Serge Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes. Copland was savvy, too, incorporating the Simple Gifts hymn of Mother Anne Lee, whose Shaker settlements stretch along the top of the Appalachian Trail in New England.

It was wordsmith Ira Gershwin who coined the title Rhapsody in Blue for his brother George’s 1924 classical concerto tribute to the jazz world. Venezuelan pianist Kristhyan Benitez shone as the soloist here, with a brilliant and sensitive handling of the keyboard. There were a few fluffs, but overall the piece was a blockbuster, and the audience gave it a standing ovation.
Leonard Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from his musical On the Town, about three sailors on shore leave in New York City, had a rousing performance. The brassy first dance set the scene. In the second dance, the clarinet was prominent with trumpet obbligato soaring over incoming strings. In the third dance, Tebar was in his element, visibly dancing on the podium to Bernstein’s catchy tunes. – Rex Hearn

Delray String Quartet (Dec. 3, All Saints Episcopal Church, Fort Lauderdale)

Not every composer wrote string quartets with four more-or-less equal voices.

The earliest quartets, and the quartets of later writers such as Gaetano Donizetti, can often be a workout for the first violin, with the other three instruments playing backup. But much of the canonical repertoire requires all four of the players to be equally able, and the foursome that doesn’t have a deep bench finds musical life to be a struggle.

So it’s a pleasure to report that the new second violinist of the Delray String Quartet, Tomas Cotik, makes a fine addition to this ambitious group, which opened its seventh season Dec. 3 with a concert at All Saints Episcopal Church in Delray Beach.

Cotik, an Argentinian-born musician who has recently taken a teaching assistantship at the University of Miami, replaces Megan McClendon, a one-season replacement for Laszlo Pap, a founding member of the quartet. Pap now leads the Fort Lauderdale String Quartet, which is under the auspices of the Symphony of the Americas.

Cotik also has a strong and distinctive sound, and in most of the concert he and violist Richard Fleischman supplied a vivid, virile middle to the music, with solo work from both men making full impact. This first concert of the season had two major events, the first being the performance of the String Quartet No. 4 of the American composer Kenneth Fuchs.

Fuchs, a Broward County native who studied at the University of Miami before moving on to Juilliard, was on hand to discuss his brief but engaging one-movement quartet, subtitled Bergonzi, in honor of the UM-based quartet for whom it was written. It’s a relatively light but tautly constructed piece built on a three-note rising motif first sounded by the viola. That trades off with a gentler three-note motif introduced by the cello, and the music soon expands into a busy, energetic sonic tableau, music that sounds very open and very American.

In the middle, the cello motif is transformed into a moody, expectant theme over a pizzicato version of the three-note opening material; in the last section, the feeling of purposeful energy resumes. It is a fine piece of music, and the Delray played it well, though with a certain tightness and tension that sounded at times as though the players were somewhat too concerned with precision.

Despite its speedy tempo and offbeat accents, this is essentially positive, forthright music, and it would have benefited from a greater sense of relaxation and ease. Still, it was impressive that the Delray began its season with a piece of recent contemporary American music, which to my mind is the logical core repertory for this quartet.

The Second Quartet of Johannes Brahms (in A minor, Op. 51, No. 2), which closed the concert, is one of his most familiar pieces of chamber music, and the Delray gave its rolling first movement a sound that was well-balanced and elegant. The short ritardando transition passages, though, slowed things down a little too much, which hurt the narrative momentum.

First violinist Mei-Mei Luo offered a lovely reading of the main theme of the slow second movement, and the quartet handled the dramatic contrasting section capably. The third movement also was a bit on the slow side for my taste, though I’ve heard other performances at about that speed. But it lacks lift at this pace, and the expectation-and-mystery tradeoff here sounded tentative rather than deliberate. The Allegro vivace was quite good, though, from the standpoint of pace, technical accomplishment and ensemble.

The finale clipped along smartly, and the players attacked the music with considerable force and excitement. The transition to the A major section toward the end was beautifully done, with some fine playing by cellist Claudio Jaffe. Overall, while some of the music was too cautiously approached, this was a strong performance of this repertoire staple, and another important stage in this quartet’s development.

Transportation problems had me arriving late at the concert,‭ ‬so I missed all but the last movement of the opening piece,‭ ‬the‭ ‬Bird Quartet‭ (‬in C,‭ ‬Hob III:‭ ‬39‭) ‬of Haydn.‭ ‬The finale had good ensemble and a snaky kind of energy that was more forceful than the usual powdered-wig approach,‭ ‬and‭ ‬it worked well.

For an encore,‭ ‬the quartet played Fleischman‭’‬s arrangement of‭ ‬a piece called‭ ‬Melody,‭ ‬by the Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla.‭ ‬The Delray played it with the requisite high emotion for an effective interpretation of this composer‭’‬s music. – G.‭ ‬Stepanich

Singing bassist Nicki Parrott's trio walked on to the stage at the Harriet Himmel Theater in West Palm Beach on Tuesday while still getting used to dry land.

Parrott, Italian pianist Rossano Sportiello and drummer Ed Metz Jr. had just exited a Crystal Cruise line ship earlier in the day after playing a 10-day jazz-themed sail from Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean.

And while a few tentative early moments showed that the three were still getting their land legs under them, they soon righted the ship through creative arrangements of a few classics and more than a few surprises, all to the delight of the three-quarter capacity crowd.

“We're going to play tunes from the American Songbook,” Parrott said, tongue firmly planted in cheek, “otherwise known as the Rod Stewart songbook.”

The humor of the Australia native, now based in Brooklyn, showed all night long. On Louis Jordan's bluesy Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby, she augmented her breathy, understated vocal delivery with snippets of scat-singing as Metz creatively played his snare drum with brushes, drumsticks, and even his hands.

Sportiello introduced an early highlight, Tommy Flanagan’s Beats Up, by playing a long, ragtime-influenced solo. Metz propelled the warp-speed piece with his rimshots and hummingbird breaks, and Parrott played a snippet of Mendelssohn’s Wedding March during her solo.

The bassist then downshifted by singing Consuelo Velazquez’s Besame Mucho, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (which she renamed Down Under Christmas, and infused with lyrics of Australian imagery), and Adler and Ross’s Whatever Lola Wants, a tune from the musical Damn Yankees.

The best of the first set’s jazz standards was Cole Porter’s Let's Do It, Let’s Fall in Love which Parrott injected with her own humorous lyrics (“Piano players who are Milanese do it,” with a wink toward Sportiello, before she also mentioned Metz, the Tea Party, TSA agents, Lindsay Lohan, Batman, Mel Gibson, Tiger Woods, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie).

All of which led to the evening’s signature piece, a medley of Chopin melodies that Sportiello arranged for the trio.

“Imagine that Chopin gets caught in Harlem in 1955,” Parrott said. The three musicians then engaged in a dizzying chase that started with the pianist's introduction over a mid-tempo rhythm by Parrott and Metz. The drummer used brushes, and Parrott employed her bow, as Sportiello led them into dramatic pauses, then his manic, Art Tatum-esque solo at a breakneck pace. The trio then effortlessly de-accelerated into a ballad feel; a bluesy Harlem shuffle, and a 6/8 rhythmic cadence before the coda and a necessary, breath-catching intermission.

“I hadn’t planned on doing this, but we're going to do a little tribute to Les Paul,” Parrott said early in the second set. The bassist was a part of Paul’s weekly house band at the Iridium Jazz Club in Manhattan for nine years until the 94-year-old icon died in 2009, and she still honors him there on Mondays as part of the Les Paul Trio (with guitarist Lou Pallo and pianist John Colianni).

Parrott again changed the lyrics to suit the subject, this time in a medley of Young at Heart and How High the Moon. The loping former segued into the up-tempo latter, complete with a swinging Sportiello solo and trades between Metz and Parrott that had the bassist laughing and dancing. Her infectious energy permeated the entire concert, right down to her ballad ode to Peggy Lee, I Love the Way You're Breaking My Heart (featured on Parrott’s 2009 CD Fly Me to the Moon).

Sportiello then showed his arranging prowess again, this time infusing George Shearing’s Lullaby of Birdland with a Baroque feel. Parrott’s underrated playing included both bow and fingerstyle; Metz soloed only on the cymbals, and the pianist seamlessly shifted between swing and Baroque figures.

A muscular arrangement of Bert Kaempfert’s Spanish Eyes closed the show, and featured compelling solos by both Sportiello and Parrott. Yet it was Metz who brought the house down. Like Buddy Rich, the drummer uses every tool at his disposal -- playing with brushes, soloing with his hands, and then bouncing drumsticks off of the snare, some of which he caught; some of which ended up on the ledge above the stage.

This trio first played together while recording Metz’s 2008 CD Bridging the Gap, and it developed chemistry while performing a week’s worth of dates in Switzerland the following year. Parrott and Sportiello have recorded two duo CDs and are completely simpatico already, so any hiccups on this night (most coming at the end of songs) were en route toward complete symmetry with their otherwise fabulous drummer.

The three are likely to have all kinks worked out by the time they record during late-January dates at the Jazz Corner in Hilton Head, S.C. If this evening was any indication, the result could be a stellar 2011 live CD.

For every Jaco Pastorius or Charles Mingus, there are countless jazz bass players who never become household names, so most take up the workmanlike instrument for deeper reasons than attaining celebrity.

In the case of Nicki Parrott, it was family.

At age 15 in her native Australia, she started her performing career when her older sister, saxophonist Lisa Parrott, needed a bassist. Before long, though, it was evident that the self-taught musician was clearly playing bass for the love of the instrument.

After studying at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, where she was able to take additional lessons with touring bass dignitaries like Ray Brown and John Clayton, Parrott made her move. In 1994, at age 24, an Australian Young Achievers Award provided her with the funds to move to the United States and study with renowned New York City bassist Rufus Reid. She's now based in Brooklyn, and has only left to tour ever since.

“I’m a permanent resident here, but not a U.S. citizen yet,” Parrott said before her Dec. 21 concert at the Harriet Himmel Theater in CityPlace, her Aussie accent still intact. “Citizenship is on my to-do list.”

That being said, she’s certainly mastered America’s musical art form. Now also a breathy, self-taught vocalist, Parrott's recording and performance resume includes work with the likes of Clark Terry, Billy Taylor, Dick Hyman, Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, Howard Alden, Ken Peplowski, Harry Allen, and Bucky and John Pizzarelli. In addition to her recording sessions, she’s played with the New York Pops and on Broadway shows.

For nine years, Parrott also played every Monday night at the Iridium Jazz Club in Manhattan with legendary guitarist Les Paul. When the icon died in 2009 at age 94, Parrott wanted to carry on his legacy at the venue -- which she’s done ever since as bassist and vocalist for the Les Paul Trio, with guitarist Lou Pallo and pianist John Colianni.

“I first started doing vocals while working with Les,” Parrott says, “because he made me do it! I'd never actually sung much before. He was wonderful, and it shocked us when he died because he looked so good. He was very coherent right up until the end, and almost always pretty peppy, and very funny. I'd jokingly blame him for all the technological overkill in recording studios, since he did invent multi-tracking, and he'd laugh and go along with it.

“A guitarist would sit in and play a Gibson Les Paul model and he’d say, ‘If I hadn’t invented that piece of crap, you wouldn’t have been able to play it so loud!’ We’re carrying on Mondays at the club as a tribute to him, and we bring in guest artists every week.”

On recent Mondays, those included Jane Monheit, Frank Vignola and Todd Rundgren. Forthcoming guests in December and January include Bert Jansch, Reb Beach, Mike Stern, Victor Wooten, Jim Hall and Greg Osby.

Parrott's trio for her Tuesday concert in the Jazz Arts Music Society (JAMS) series at the Harriet Himmel Theater at CityPlace includes Italian pianist Rossano Sportiello and Florida-based drummer Ed Metz Jr. The three first recorded on Metz’s 2008 CD Bridging the Gap, and they plan to record a live album for Arbors Records during a late-January date at the Jazz Corner in Hilton Head, S.C. If the CityPlace show was any indication, the live CD should be a must-have item for any fan of the trio.

“I've been playing with Rossano for about 10 years,” Parrott says. “He moved to New York a few years ago, and we've recorded a couple duo CDs within the past six years or so. I think he's one of the most brilliant jazz and classical pianists alive today. I’ve found that European jazz musicians seem to have more of a classical background than American jazz musicians, and Rossano typifies that.

“As for Ed, his CD turned out to be one of my favorite recordings for Arbors Records,” Parrott continues. “So when the three of us played for a week at a club in Switzerland last year, we were really able to home in on our material. Now we're used to playing with each other; we have repertoire, and it’s great fun.”

JAMS president and founder Susan Merritt remembered the joy Parrott exhibited during a previous appearance for the organization, which was part of the reason she was booked for its special holiday concert.

“Nicki first played for us a few years ago with the DIVA Jazz Orchestra,” Merritt says. “I'd also enjoyed her session work on a variety of albums on Arbors Records, and I recently saw her play with Ann Hampton Callaway. She's a great singer and bass player, and just adorable.”

When she left Australia in the mid-‘90s, Parrott left a jazz scene that she remembers as depreciating.

“There was always a jazz scene in Sydney,” she says, “but it seemed like it was more happening in the ‘80s than in the ‘90s. All the major cities there have a jazz scene -- Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane. Sydney was really thriving in the late ‘80s, but Melbourne probably has a better scene now."

She doesn’t tour her native country much, but Parrott also remembers an ever-strong classical scene.

“All the major Australian cities have great symphony orchestras,” she says, “so there's a huge classical tradition there. And jazz is sort of a smaller branch of that. There are occasional festivals that I’ll play there, but otherwise there aren't really that many touring opportunities.”

That may be due, in part, to the amount of gigs Parrott plays in the U.S. Her trio hit the stage in West Palm Beach fresh off a 10-day, jazz-themed sail from Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean aboard the Crystal Cruise line. Parrott is also busy within the modern, downsized, do-it-yourself reality that exists within the 21^st-century music industry.

“We all have to deal with the business side,” she says. “It’s not all practicing and performing, because most of us work without managers. Each gig requires a lot of planning between publicity, photos and press in general. So with travel, e-mails and all the other details, there's a lot less time to devote to your craft.”

Some of Parrott’s most time-consuming travel is to the Far East.

“I read a definition of jazz recently in a music union paper,” she says. “It was called ‘America's most original art form; beloved by Europeans.’ I’d add the Japanese to that as well. I’ve been to Switzerland five times this year, and I’ve released four albums in Japan, all with vocals, all of which have done quite well. So I’ve toured there, and I'll be going back again next year for the Fujitsu Concord Jazz Festival.”

Parrott’s latest Japanese release is Black Coffee (Venus). She also appears on this year’s All My Friends Are Here: Tribute to Arif Mardin (Nunoise), which features David Sanborn, Norah Jones, Bette Midler, Dianne Reeves and Willie Nelson and pays homage to the late Grammy-winning producer. Her latest domestic release is the second duo CD with Sportiello, last year’s Do It Again (Arbors).

The versatile bassist has come a long way, both literally and figuratively.

“I was the first female bass student my teacher had at the conservatorium in Sydney,” Parrott says. “My sister and I were always been influenced by a lot of different music, from Brazilian to Eric Clapton. Now I play acoustic and electric bass, and I don’t know many bassists in New York who don’t. I think the more diverse you are as a musician, the better you can be.”

That’s a common mantra for modern musicians in all genres, and for better or worse, it’s likely to shape music in general and jazz in particular in the future.

“I was talking to Harry Allen about that recently,” Parrott says, “and we agreed that it’s all about broadening one’s horizons. Harry will go from a gig playing with the Brazilian group Trio da Paz to recording a ‘James Bond’ record. Jazz has almost always been somewhat of a marginalized art form, anyway; never hugely popular unless you’re someone like Diana Krall.

“I just try to play with people who also play a lot of different styles. That way, I can broaden both my horizons and my repertoire.”

See the Nicki Parrott Trio at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 21, at the Harriet Himmel Theater, 700 S. Rosemary Ave., West Palm Beach (Tickets: $35; call 877-722-2820 or visit www.jamsociety.org.

The “A” cast may have sung Nabucco on Friday night for Palm Beach Opera, but on Saturday night I heard the alpha cast.

The company alternates its principals in two casts for each of its full productions and the Saturday lineup featured five incredible voices, “B” cast or no.

Giuseppe Verdi’s third opera, Nabucco, began the Romantic period in operatic composition. It nearly didn’t get written. His two previous operas, Oberto and Un Giorno di Regno, were failures at the box office.

Verdi was about to give up, but Bartolomeo Merelli, the impresario of La Scala in Milan, thrust a new libretto by Temistocle Solera into the hands of the unsuspecting Verdi. Its biblical grandeur and pathos moved the composer deeply, and by the autumn of 1841 he’d written the music.

And what beautiful music it is. Not regularly performed here, American audiences are not as familiar with it as our European cousins. As a boy of 8, I listened to the Fodens Motor Works Brass Band in England belt out the famous overture and I loved it. The Welsh National Opera chose to do it in their inaugural season and created quite a stir with an unknown bass-baritone named Bryn Terfel.

After this brilliant production by Palm Beach Opera, let’s trust it won’t be neglected by U.S. opera companies.

A massive ovation greeted the orchestra after its energetic rendition of the overture Saturday night. Conductor Bruno Aprea was in his element, directing with gusto and very much in charge of this successful evening.

Following this auspicious start, the Ukrainian bass Dmitry Belosselskiy, singing Zaccaria, the high priest of Solomon’s temple, urges the Hebrews to fight bravely against the Babylonians: he’s got King Nabucco’s daughter, Fenena, held hostage as his ace in hand. Throughout the evening Belosselskiy’s rich flexible voice went along like a river in full flood with strong rounded tones, taking all ears in its wake. What a fine instrument he has.

American tenor Adam Diegel sang Ismaele, who fls in love with Fenena and converts her to Judaism. Here again was a strong, heroic, powerful tenor; it’s a shame Verdi didn’t write more for Ismaele to sing. Diegel’s lyric sound is a delight to hear.

Texas native Laura Vlasak Nolen as Fenena gave a finely judged performance as the pawn between two warring factions. Her highly placed mezzo-soprano is incredibly beautiful, with a distinct timbre, powerful at times, but most delicate and touching in her last-act aria.

Romanian baritone Sebastian Catana as King Nabucco was splendid. He paced himself well, has a lot of singing to do, and kept the strength of his lovely voice even until Act IV, giving it more punch at the end of the opera.

The Hungarian dramatic soprano Csilla Boross, as Abigaille, the usurping sister of Fenena’s hereditary crown, gave a performance that revived memories of an early Maria Callas. Her body language, her fine singing and the deep meaning she got into her role were distinctive, and so Callas-like. Whoever chose these five principals selected singers with incredible voices.

Harold Wilson sang the high priest of Baal very well; his mellifluous bass was lovely to hear. In comprimario roles, two Palm Beach Opera Young Artists shone brightly. Evanivaldo Correa’s tenor showed much promise as Abdallo, and he has great stage presence. And soprano Alison Bates as Anna has a powerful voice that soared over the chorus on occasion, to thrilling effect.

And the chorus! This well-drilled body of 45 singers acted and sang wonderfully well in their many calls to support the principals of this opera. Of course the highlight was Va, pensiero, when the Israelites sing longingly of their homeland. It had light and shade, tenderness and pathos, quality ensemble singing that should be the envy of other choruses hereabouts. The audience was slow to applaud, cautious not to break the spell of its beauty. To Greg Ritchey, chorus master and now assistant conductor, much praise. And kudos to the choristers.

To Guy Montavon, praise also for directing this difficult work. I’d wish for some spotlights on the principals, however, and more wearing of the elusive crown of Babylon at times.

Finally, this opera orchestra seems to get better and better. They are attentive to detail, and all the players are best at what they do. Under Aprea they will take center stage in Verdi’s Requiem on Jan. 16. Not to be missed.

Rex Hearn has covered opera in South Florida for more than a decade. He was founder of the Berkshire Opera Company in Massachusetts.

Nabucco will be performed at 2 p.m. today at the Kravis Center, West Palm Beach, with Sebastian Catana as Nabucco and Csilla Boross as Abigaille. Tickets start at $23. Call 833-7888 (opera box office) or 832-7469 (Kravis box office); or visit www.pbopera.org or www.kravis.org.

It takes a lot of big singing to fill up all the space in the static tableaux of Verdi’s Nabucco.

And on Friday night at the Palm Beach Opera, most of that sonic filling was provided by two singers other than the principals: a sonorous bass as Zaccaria and a thrilling tenor as Ismaele.

For its first production in 25 years of Verdi’s breakthrough 1842 Biblical drama, Palm Beach Opera has called on two veteran singers, baritone Mark Rucker as Nabucco and soprano Paoletta Marrocu as Abigaille. Both vocalists have sung these roles many times, and that was evident in their acting; it can safely be said both musicians made the very most of the stage parts of their roles.

But in the case of Marrocu, her singing was distinctly variable, sometimes large and commanding, and at other times overblown, ragged, or under pitch. At its best in Friday night’s performance at the Kravis Center (the Act III duet with Nabucco, Oh di qual onta aggravasi), it’s a voice with power and attractive colors, especially in the lowest register.

Still, Marrocu was not in great voice overall Friday night, skipping the famous interpolated high C in the Salgo gìa cabaletta that ends the first scene of Act II, and while she had a strong stage presence, it’s the singing that needs to fill the room, and she was only able to do that occasionally.

Rucker’s voice was much more consistent. It’s a very pleasant baritone instrument, nicely focused if not especially large, and it’s well-rounded across its range. Despite some stiffness in his stage movements, he sang and acted with real subtlety in a part that doesn’t have a lot of it, trying his best to add emotional confusion to his moments of kingly madness.

His singing got noticeably warmer and more engaging in Acts III and IV, and his Dio de Giuda at the end was heartfelt and effective. He was a persuasive if not dominating Nabucco, one whose work in this role might be better appreciated in a concert setting.

The most exciting singing of this opening night of the company’s 49^th season came from Dmitry Belosselskiy as Zaccaria, the high priest of the Jews, and Adam Diegel as Ismaele, lover of Fenena.

Belosselskiy, a Ukrainian-born musician, has one of those big, beautiful bass voices that infuses everything he sings with authority. He was particularly good in the lovely Tu sul labbro, the Act II prayer with its radiant six-cello accompaniment, but everything he did was worth listening to, and one welcomed his return to the stage each time he appeared.

It’s not for nothing that when Montserrat Caballé wanted to introduce a new tenor named José Carreras, she had him first appear as Ismaele, because while it’s a small role, it’s aggressive and passionate, and a perfect spotlight for a fresh new voice. Diegel, who was an excellent Don José for Florida Grand Opera’s Carmen last season, was a terrific Ismaele, with a vivid spinto that ideally embodied the character of the young lover who would sacrifice his life for his captive people.

Almost as good was mezzo Laura Vlasak Nolen as Fenena, whose voice was weighty and strong in the Io t’amava trio of Act I, and sweetly pure in her O di schiuso è il firmamento aria in Act IV, where the richness of her singing across a wide range could clearly be heard.

Harold Wilson as the high priest of Baal was decently effective, but Evanivaldo Correa’s Abdallo was underpowered. And while no one knew who Alison Bates was when she took her curtain call as Anna, her large, powerful soprano commanded instant attention as it soared above the rest of the chorus in the massed numbers of the final act. One looks forward to her future appearances as a member of the company’s Young Artists troupe.

The chorus had the first curtain call along with chorus master Greg Ritchey, as was only fitting for such a chorus-heavy opera, and in truth they sang well most of the evening, especially in the most celebrated moment, the Va, pensiero of Act III, and in the closing Immenso Jeovha of the last act, which was suitably forceful. The men, though, ran into some real trouble in Act II’s Il maledetto non ha fratelli, which apparently was much too fast for them to be able to keep up and maintain their diction.

Conductor Bruno Aprea, who led a very vigorous Norma two seasons ago, brought the same kind of relentless drive to early Verdi as he did to Bellini, and one gets the sense that he likes to champion early 19^th-century Italian opera above all. And he made a good case for it: This was a swiftly led, highly colored Nabucco, and its pace and fire, which tells us a lot about the innovations Verdi brought to this art form, would have been easier to appreciate had the show opened on time, and had the intermission before Act II not been somewhat too lengthy.

The orchestra he had on hand, filled with some of the best musicians in the area, was very good, from the exposed brass soli in the overture to the solo flute work at the end, with the cello sextet playing in Tu sul labbro especially fine.

The sets from the Opera de Montreal were very spare and centered on focalpoints such as a huge head of Baal, while the costumes (also from the Canadian company) were overwhelmingly modest and straight out of a Sunday school textbook, shunning big headdresses for Zaccaria and Nabucco, which was debatably acceptable, and any sense of sexuality for Abigaille and Fenena, which was not. Nabucco is also a love story, and clothing Fenena in a shapeless semi-burqa makes no sense if you want to bring out that element of the opera, her subject status notwithstanding.

Guy Montavon’s staging was clean but too rigid, which gave the whole production an offputting sense of awkwardness and unreality. The chorus moved in big, orderly blocks on and off rather than like crowds, and there was too little interaction among the characters in general, so that it was hard to figure out how everyone related to each other and to follow the story.

It would have helped, too, to have an actual sound to go along with the lightning bolt that hits Nabucco in Act II, and the wisps of smoke rising from the temple at the end of Act I looked like a toaster accident rather than an act of war.

Nabucco continues tonight at the Kravis Center with Sebastian Catana as Nabucco and Csilla Boross as Abigaille. Rucker and Marrocu return on Sunday afternoon, Catana and Boross on Monday afternoon. Tonight’s performance begins at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday and Monday’s shows are set for 2 p.m. Tickets are $23-$175, and can be had by calling the Kravis box office at 832-7469 or visting www.kravis.org, or by calling the opera at 833-7888 or visiting www.pbopera.org.