A new company, the Bleecker Street Opera, performing at one of the Theatres at 45 Bleecker Street, in the East Village, has arisen from the ashes of the defunct Amato Opera and introduces itself in style with composer Italo Montemezzi and playwright Sem Benelli's relative rarity "L'Amore dei Tre Re" (1913), which opened on October 18 and plays through November 15. I heard the second of 11 performances, which took place on October 24, and was quite pleased with the endeavor.

Part of the Metropolitan Opera's regular repertory from 1914 to 1949, when Lucrezia Bori, Rosa Ponselle, Claudia Muzio, Grace Moore and Dorothy Kirsten, and Adamo Didur, Ezio Pinza and Virgilio Lazzari sang the principal roles and, in 1941, the composer conducted, "L'Amore dei Tre Re" has been heard here since on television in English, in the early 1960s, thanks to NBC Opera, with Phyllis Curtin and Giorgio Tozzi; at the New York City Opera in 1982, with Samuel Ramey as its raison d'être; and in concert, as Teatro Grattacielo's inaugural offering in 1997 and, once again with Ramey, in an Opera Orchestra of New York hearing, led by Eve Queler in 2006.

Like so many Italian Romantic operas, which treat a subject dear to creative artists of the not yet united and the fairly newly unified Italy, "Tre Re" concerns leaders of a conquering nation and individuals from the population they oppressed. Verdi's "Nabucco" and "Aida," Rossini's "Guillaume Tell," and Bellini's "Norma" are but a few other examples of operas of the era through which such a theme runs, either prominently or as undercurrent.

The titular "love of three kings" is Princess Fiora of the vanquished land of Altura and the "kings" are Avito, the prince to whom she was once betrothed; Archibaldo, the barbarian conqueror of Fiora and Avito's people, now old and blind, and still proud; and Manfredo, Archibaldo's son, to whom Fiora's hand was, against her will, given in marriage. The action is set in the 10th century, in Archibaldo's castle, in a corner of Italy as remote as the Cornwall of "Tristan und Isolde" and misty Allemonde of "Pelléas et Mélisande," and Manfredo is away at war. Fiora and Avito have continued to see each other sub rosa and Archibaldo senses that she is having an affair, though he cannot, of course, see who her lover is. He challenges her, strangles her, and puts poison on her lips, sure that her beloved will give himself away with a farewell kiss for her, when she is laid out on her bier. In his literally as well as figuratively blind desire for revenge, Archibaldo, with his plot, entraps not only the intended quarry, but also his own son, leaving him quite alone and anguished.

Eric Jordan lent a bass of impressive sonority and intensity of delivery to the all-important part of Archibaldo and was justly cheered for his stirring monologue, "Italia! Italia è tutto il mio ricordo!" in which he reminisced about conquering Altura. Regret-his-and resentment-hers-infused his tense first act exchange, "Fiora! Fiora! Tu sei costà. Ti sento rifiatare!," with soprano Christina Arethas, his real-life spouse, as Fiora, as he voiced his suspicion about her betraying his son. They also joined voices for a final confrontation, "Fiora! Fiora!-Son qua!," furious and gripping, in Act Two, in which he charged her with adultery and she defied him, before he throttled her.

Arethas and tenor Benjamin Sloman, as Avito, brought ardent passion to the doomed lovers' romantic duet, "È ancora notte fonda," an oasis of relative peace for the illicit pair, in Act One, and to "Oh! Fiora! Fiora! Sono Avito!," their duet, troubled and agitated, in Act Two, as their chance of being discovered loomed closer at hand. In the funeral scene, in Act Three, following "Morte in gelido stupore," in which an ensemble of eight eloquently mourned Fiora in grand, liturgical-style strains, Sloman offered an impassioned lament for his dead love before he took the fatal kiss from her lips.

Guiding "Tre Re" were Music Director Paul Haas, who led the singers and a fair-sized orchestra in a fluent realization of Montemezzi's colorful and turbulent score, and Director and General Manager Irene F. Kim, who elicited a dramatic account of the opera from her cast. Richard Cerullo, Patricia McCray, and Rebecca Sieglar designed sets, costumes, and makeup and wigs, respectively. James Wadsworth (Manfredo), Donald Johnston, Mia Riker-Norrie and Nozomi Kawaguchi took other key roles.

With various singers alternating in the roles of Archibaldo, Fiora and Avito, "L'Amore dei Tre Re" continues on Sundays October 25 and November 1, 8 and 15 at 7 p.m., Wednesdays October 28 and November 4 at 1 p.m., and Saturdays October 31 and November 7 and 14 at 5 p.m. For tickets, at $35 and $40, and $30 for students and seniors, telephone 212/239-6200 or visit www.TeleCharge.com. For further information, go to company's web site, www.BleeckerStreetOpera.org. 45 Bleecker Street is between Lafayette Street and the Bowery.

Also planned for this season are Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," December 6 through January 10, 2010; Verdi's "Rigoletto," March 21 to April 24; Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," May 9 to June 16; and opera-in-brief matinees of Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors," December 26 and 27; Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel," May 13 and 14; and Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado," May 1 and 2.