This spring, the Metropolitan Opera is presenting the company premiere of Gioachino Rossini's "Armida" (1817), which pits the eponymous Saracen sorceress against six coloratura tenor Crusaders. In the opera, conducted by Riccardo Frizza, and the new production, by Mary Zimmerman, with sets and costumes by Richard Hudson and lighting by Brian MacDevitt, the Easterners are sensuous, seductive, cunning, and evil, almost reptilian, and the Westerners, pure of heart, if gullible and corruptible. Armida, sung by Renée Fleming, is the sole solo woman, and two low-voiced male singers support her. All six solo Crusaders, in roles of differing degrees of importance, are tenors who must sing florid music, with Lawrence Brownlee as the principal one, Rinaldo, Armida's quarry. "Armida" opened on April 12 and the third of 10 performances, on April 19, is the one reviewed here.

New Yorkers previously experienced Fleming's Armida in concert, with Eve Queler's Opera Orchestra of New York (OONY), at Carnegie Hall, on April 17, 1996. A specialist in Mozart and Strauss-and French opera, Verdi, and 20th century opera-she also made a fairly persuasive case for herself, at the Met, as a bel canto singer in Bellini's "Il Pirata" and Handel's "Rodelinda." Here, she was curiously subdued for much of the evening, even in the theme-and-variations of "D'Amore al dolce impero," the big aria in Act Two. She did not really cut loose until the last scenes of Act Three, when invoking the furies-was Maria Callas, an illustrious predecessor in the role, one of them?-in a dramatic recitative, and working her wiles to try to convince Rinaldo not to leave her, in the climactic quartet, "Se al mio crudel tormento."

Brownlee, on the other hand, gave unstintingly of his handsome, high and flexible tenor as Rinaldo, the Crusader who goes astray. His moments to shine were in bravura contributions to duets-the love scenes with Armida and fiery sparring with José Manuel Zapata as Gernando, his rival for new leader of the Crusaders, whom he bests in a duel, fatal for his foe-and ensembles, such as the striking "In quale aspetto imbelle," with his fellows, tenors Kobie van Rensburg as Ubaldo and Barry Banks as Carlo, who call him back to duty by pointing up how he's exchanged frills for his uniform. It is good to hear Brownlee as primo uomo in a Met premiere, instead of following Juan Diego Flórez in a part.

John Osborn, as Goffredo, commander of the Crusaders, was the first of the tenors that we heard, impressive as he led the knights in mourning Dudone, their fallen leader. Met newcomer Yeghishe Manucharyan, who has sung with OONY and New York City Opera, took the supporting role of Eustazio, Goffredo's brother. Zapata made sparks fly in Gernando's angy "Non soffrirò l'offesa," resenting that Rinaldo has been chosen for the honor he coveted.
Near the beginning of the opera, some structures, likely meant to be sand dunes, protruded from doorways looking like nothing more than crocodiles' tails and soon Armida shed crocodile tears, asking the Crusaders' protection from her uncle, Idraote (Peter Volpe), who usurped her throne, counting on the Christians' unawareness that he was right there in her entourage, sporting a white cone head and snaky, or diabolical tail. Soon the bewitched knights would be giving her the blue flowers that adorned Dudone's casket-what an offering! Keith Miller was the solo demon, Astarotte, at Armida's command, imposing of voice and lithe as a dancer.

Broadway's Graciela Daniele made a Met debut choreographing a gender-bending ballet, with the women strutting in Crusaders' uniforms and helmets, with white siren garb beneath, and male devils in frilly white skirts, as well as sirens bearing (forbidden) fruit on their heads-shades of Carmen Miranda-helping to tell the story of Rinaldo (here, dancer Aaron Loux), which Armida presented for the enchanted singing Rinaldo's entertainment. But did we really need allegorical figures of Love-Teele Ude as a Cupid lowered into place on a wire, like Peter Pan, at the beginning of the opera-and Revenge-shirtless, tattooed Isaac Scranton, sporting huge batwings by the end of the opera-to tell us who was feeling what, or which way Armida was leaning?

Kudos go to the chorus for yeoman duty as Crusaders, devils, and Armida's attendants, and to the orchestra, for its account of the bel canto, Gluck and Mozart-influenced score.

Additional performances of "Armida" are on April 22 and 27 at 8 p.m., May 1 at 1 p.m., and May 4, 7, 11 and 15 at 8 p.m. For remaining tickets, priced from $15 to 375, telephone 212/362-6000, visit www.metopera.org, or go the Met box office at Lincoln Center. Rush tickets, for $20, are available at the box office on the day of performance, from Monday through Thursday.