by Mike Silverman

It's been called the ''missing link'' among Giuseppe Verdi's operas, composed right after his three mid-career mega-hits — ''Rigoletto,'' ''Il Trovatore'' and ''La Traviata'' — and pointing the way toward the masterpieces of his later years.

Why ''missing"? It's not as if ''Les vepres siciliennes'' ("The Sicilian Vespers"), first performed in Paris in 1855, was lost or had to be reconstructed by scholars. Yet, despite its importance in the Verdi canon, the opera has remained a relative rarity.

Now, in the great Italian composer's bicentennial year, ''Les vepres'' is getting renewed attention, with performances this summer in Frankfurt, Germany, and at the Caramoor Festival outside New York City, plus a much-anticipated production at London's Covent Garden this fall.

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