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There are only three – the strong-willed servant, Serpina; the badgered old master, Uberto; and the mute manservant, Vespone.   Ample recitative drives the bickering and narrative between Stefano de Peppo’s Uberto and Anna Mandina’s lofty-minded Serpina. The musical highlights are found in their respective arias and duets. De Peppo captures the contrast of Uberto’s gruff complaints and submissive resignation to his servant-mistress first in “Sempre in contrasti,” where he talks a good game of standing up to Serpina’s constant arguments. Supremely confident and sure of voice, D...

A variety of familiar singers, along with some Sarasota newcomers, will star in rarely seen, intimate productions for Sarasota Opera’s revised winter/spring season. The company announced in November that because of the coronavirus, it canceled plans for its traditional major productions (including “Tosca” and “The Pearl Fishers”) and will instead present four smaller-scale, one-act works, two of which have never been produced by the company before. There will be 24 performances in all beginning Feb. 12 with Gioachino Rossini’s comic “The Happy Deception.” It will be followe...