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By Ken Keuffel Jr.
The Arizona Daily Star

It isn't difficult to recommend Arizona Opera's current production of "Andrea Chénier."

Umberto Giordano's 1896 opera, in Tucson through today, thrives on all the right stuff: great singing, compelling dramatics, colorful sets and wonderful period costumes. And, unlike many operas (marathons?), this four-act show moves a wealth of melody and spectacle through two hours and 30 minutes.

Even the wigs, particularly those worn by the gavotte-dancing nobility in Act I, are worth seeing: some extend three feet up in cylindrical shapes.

The verismo opera's events take place during the French Revolution. They lead to the Act IV beheading of poet Chénier and his lover, Maddalena. At a trial in the preceding act, an eloquent defense by Gérard, a rebellious servant turned revolutionary, fails to save Chénier.

Friday's and today's talented leads - Chénier (Craig Sirianni), Maddalena (Elizabeth Holleque), and Gérard (Allan Monk) - bring seasoned professionalism to some exhausting, technically challenging arias and non-aria singing. (An alternate cast was scheduled to sing last night.)

Sirianni's tenor reminded me of Pavarotti's in its better days: always fluid and of pleasing sound, no matter the range.

Holleque, who's sung in "Tosca" with Pavarotti, exhibited similar qualities. Her soprano scored with a drop-dead combination of dramatic power and soothing warmth.

Monk epitomized authority, both vocally and as an actor, particularly in Act III when he transforms himself from an opportunist into an honorable man.

This production's best scene happens when Chénier and Maddalena are led to the guillotine. The two want to die together, so they view their death as a triumph.

So even as the big and menacing blades fall, you hear not morbid but, uplifting music. The production offers something visually uplifting, too: a bright morning light on which several silhouettes are frozen.

On Friday, conductor Cal Stewart Kellogg led an alert, musically eloquent pit.

Among other things, director Joseph McClain's staging smoothly moves a chorus mob in and out of some tight spots. The mob sings well - and captures a mob's most noble and forgettable qualities.

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