Eric Cutler as Nadir and Nathan Gunn as Zurga in the Lyric Opera’s The Pearl Fishers

Let’s pretend for a moment you hadn’t heard of Bizet’s famous Carmen, but could only judge the composer from two of his other operas offered locally this year: Djamileh at the Chicago Cultural Center in early August and now The Pearl Fishers at Lyric Opera through early November.

It’d be a safe conclusion to say the Frenchman could compose with the best of ‘em; yet he also collaborated with some pretty lousy librettists. In Djamileh, Narouda the slaveholder, falls for one of his slaves (Djamileh) who, in turn, falls for him. Never at any point is the absurd love affair believable…or desirable. With Fishers, which opened Monday night at the Civic Opera House, two buddies hopelessly agree to "pal around" (today’s political buzz-phrase!) with each other instead of pursuing their common, beautiful love interest, Leila. (Yeah, like that’s going to last.) The contrived conclusion is heroic kitsch at its best. Despite a super-duper famous tenor-baritone duet in Act 1, the NYC Met hasn’t staged this opera in 92 years. But that’s where the Met isn’t with it and the Lyric is.

Story aside, the two male lead roles offer up some real gorgeous arias and, depending on the the strength of their personalities, make this a whole lotta fun to watch, particularly in the Lyric’s production with Nathan Gunn as Zurga and Eric Cutler as Nadir. The tenor Cutler brought a stronger, rounder voice to his weak-willed Nadir, but Gunn has an understated force in his acting and singing that is a real marvel to behold. Stage presence is all his and for those who will most certainly want to know, he doesn’t wear a shirt through most of the production. Soprano Nicole Cabell (Leila) showed depth and richness on each vocal level and her Act 2 duet with Cutler was a highlight. (Similarly, Cutler’s and Gunn’s "Au fond du temple saint" duet certainly shivered many a spine.)

As for the rest, director Herbert Kellner provided a colorfully tropical playground where you could almost feel the Sri Lankan heat. And when the Lyric chorus maniacally gangs up on Nadir and Leila after their forbidden love affair, the heat really cranks up. At a quickly paced 2 1/2 hours including two intermissions, this is a light, exquisitely crafted production anchored by great music and singing. All going to show you that a real good opera company, like the Lyric, can transcend a mediocre story.

Photo by Dan Rest/Lyric Opera of Chicago