BERKELEY - Neglected works usually deserve their fate.  Among notable
exceptions few are more exceptional than Handel's 1728 "Siroe." Never
heard of it?  Small wonder.  It's a virtually forgotten opera, with a
handful of productions in almost three centuries.

It is also a most delightful work, equal to some of Handel's best.
Besides the ovation tonight in Zellerbach Hall, at the opera's West Coast
premiere, there was also the same question on every mind: "How could
something so wonderful disappear into oblivion?" (The existence of a CD
set of the opera, recorded in Purchase, NY, in 1990, indicates that there
must have been a previous US performance.)

UC-Berkeley music professor Kate van Orden suggests in the program notes
that the bankruptcy and disappearance of London's Royal Academy that
produced "Sirhoe" originally, combined with the ascendence of John Gay's
"The Beggar's Opera" had something to do with it.  Whatever the reason,
the long-term disappearance of "Sirhoe" was both unjust and unfortunate.

As performed, brilliantly, tonight by Andrea Marcon's astonishing Venice
Baroque Orchestra and a good-to-grand cast, "Siroe" won ears and hearts
instantly, for keeps.

There are no resting places, no "filling," in the three-act/140-minute
opera.  The music ranges from powerful rhythmic excitement to heartfelt
lyrical passages to gripping drama.  All of the score is to be treasured.

It was the first performance of "Siroe" by the Venetians on their US
tour.  It was a semi- (or quarter-) staged concert version, some of the
singers reverted to scores in the second half, indicating that their
presentation is a work in progress.

After several other concert performances, a fully-staged version will
be given in lucky Brooklyn, at BAM, in mid-April.  Get your tickets now.

Although the libretto is by Metastasio, the story is a mess, too too
Baroque by far.  The title role (sung by mezzo Liliana Rugiero) is a
Persian prince, whose father (Cosroe, sung by Robert Koller) is doing a
King Lear bit, although it's between two sons, rather than three daughters.

The rival for succession is Siroe's brother, Medarse (countertenor Robert
Balconi), but real complications ensue by the presence of the princess
Emira from a country defeated by the Persians and living in the court,
Aida-like (albeit wearing trousers), trying to kill the king and create
as much havoc as possible - which is easy because Siroe is in love with
her - no, not in the trouser'd incarnation, he knows about the charade.

The role of Emira was sung by Katerina Beranova, a fine singer, doing
well, in spite of an announced and audible indisposition.

Finally, there is Laodice, who is possibly the worst troublemaker in the
court, loved by the king, in love with Siroe, and doing I don't know
what...  but it doesn't matter.

In that role, the Venetians have brought to the US one of the most
Fetching new stars in the business.  Leipzig-born Simone Kermes is
a vamp, a bombshell, a rocket-red-haired superstar, who also sings.

How she sings!  Sings she how?  Well, it's difficult to describe because
hers is a dazzling, brilliant performance, she is commanding attention
as a few singers I have known, but...  it *may* be that she is not singing
"right."

Were there such extreme contrasts, exaggerated shadings and contrasts
in Handel's time?  I missed the era by a few years, and I suppose nobody
knows for sure, but I have a feeling however "inauthentic" Kermes' star
turn may be against a scholarly concept of the Baroque, there must have
been mesmerizing divas "taking liberties" back then as well.  Did artists
sing their arias while caressing members of the orchestra?  At any rate,
Kermes is a joy, a treasure, and she will be very big very soon.

And yet, the true star of "Siroe" is conductor/music director/harpsichordist
Marcon.  Under his direction, the 20 musicians - the hardest-working
group I've seen - created a magic carpet for the singers.  Time and
again, lutists Ivano Zanenghi and Evangelina Mascardi turned their frail
instruments into a couple of mighty pipe organs.  The eight violinists
played through the evening as one, cellists, oboes and Carles Cristobal
Ferran's bassoon enchanted both as accompanists and holding center stage
between arias.

The Berkeley "Siroe" is repeated Saturday.  For information about the
performance and the work, see http://tinyurl.com/2wy36.

Related by the time element, undeserved obscurity and high quality, there
is another event this weekend those in the Bay Area should know about.
The quaint title of the San Francisco Tribal and Textile Arts Show (in
the Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion, Saturday and Sunday) gives no
indication of what this show contains any more than "Siroe" signifies
"great opera," but you will not find a more amazing collection of art
that you can touch anywhere else.  Stop by before heading to Berkeley.

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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