By Sarah Bryan Miller

"Bel canto," Italian for "beautiful singing," is a phrase that gave its name to both a style of singing and a variety of 19th century Italian opera. It's the title of the award-winning 2001 novel by Ann Patchett, and, now, an opera by Peruvian-American composer Jimmy López and librettist Nilo Cruz.

Commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago, it opened there Monday night (Dec. 7). It's dramatically effective, and has strong musical elements; sadly, it doesn't offer many opportunities for truly beautiful singing. The story of "Bel canto" is definitely operatic.

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Source: http://www.stltoday.com/