On February 25, the Dicapo Opera Theatre presented the world premiere of "Il Caso Mortara," a powerful new opera that the company commissioned, by young Italian composer Francesco Cilluffo, inspired by an actual, historic case. In the theocratic Papal States of pre-unification Italy, six-year-old Edgardo Mortara, baptized in secret by a Christian nursemaid, was seized from his Jewish parents' home, and taken to Rome to be raised as a Catholic, under the guidance of Pope Pio (Pius) IX himself.

The boy's mother, Marianna-mezzo-soprano Iulia Merca-often joined by his father, Salomone-tenor Peter Furlong-sing anguished pleas for their abducted son-Jake Glickman-sometimes to icy Inquisitor Feletti-bass Tom McNichols-and sometimes reaching up to the tops of their ranges. The Pope-baritone Chad Armstrong-gives voice to a strong, multi-faceted monologue, asserting his conviction that he has rescued the boy from Satan himself, chiding the child for almost tripping him and killing him at Mass, and following this with a gentle, religious-themed quasi-lullaby, drawing a parallel between this boy and another, almost 2000 years earlier. Salomone and Marianna come to Catechumens, where converts are housed, and urge Edgardo to sing the "Sh'ma Yisroel" (Hear, oh Israel) daily and not forget his origins. Rachele-soprano Christina Rohm-a somewhat older girl, resisting conversion, but later becoming a nun, recites the "Sh'ma" with them, while priestly guards-baritones Daniel Quintana and Michael Callas-and an offstage chorus intone Latin prayers. Agitated choristers protest the Pope's absolute power, proclaiming themselves 'citizens, not subjects,' and express the international furor the Mortara case has aroused, calling for "libera chiesa in libero stato" (a free church in a free state) and, later, rejoice after Italy is united under secular ruler King Vittorio Emanuele II.

In some of the most potent scenes, Salomone, Edgardo's blood father, bravely confronts Pope Pio, the self-appointed father figure, calling him 'the very Prince of Darkness you say you are fighting;' Salomone, dying, wishes Edgardo would come home to say Kaddish, the prayer for the dead for him, while the dying Pio's thoughts turn, as well, to his spiritual son; and, continuing the conflict, Riccardo Mortara, Edgardo's brother-tenor Ubaldo Feliciano-Hernández-angrily appeals to Edgardo, now Father Pio Mortara-baritone Christopher DeVage-to say Kaddish for their father and comfort their ailing mother, striking a somewhat responsive chord in him with the latter, but ultimately failing in his errand, as Edgardo/Pio coldly? fearfully? dismisses him. The tone of this last duet reminds somewhat of those of the forbidding Zia Principessa's exchange with the eponymous heroine of Giacomo Puccini's "Suor Angelica," or the Grand Inquisitor's, with King Philip II, in Giuseppe Verdi's "Don Carlo."

If there is a problem at all with "Il Caso Mortara," it is that the abducted child Edgardo, a silent victim, in the first act, is a sympathetic figure, while his cold adult counterpart, Father Pio, in the second, is not. He is so little concerned or conflicted about his identity, until Riccardo stirs some small vestige of familial feeling in him, that it is not until Nazi thugs slap a yellow star on him near the very end of his life, when he has a vision of his mother lamenting, that he gives any serious consideration at all to his Jewish roots. I wondered how the powers-that-be of the Church of St. Jean-Baptiste, downstairs from which Dicapo performs, felt about the new opera, in which the Catholic Church is portrayed so unsympathetically, but was assured by General Director Michael Capasso, the stage director of "Il Caso Mortara," that they were comfortable with the depiction and were, in fact, in attendance.

Hear this intriguing new work, under the baton of Pacien Mazzagatti, with designs by John Farrell (sets), Ildikó Martá Debrezceni (costumes) and Susan Roth (lighting), and choreography by Francine Harman, on February 27 or March 5 at 8 p.m. or March 7 at 4 p.m.. Capasso also informed the audience that Dicapo is committed to giving additional performance of "Caso Mortara" next season. For tickets at $50, call Smarttix at 212/868-4444, visit www.dicapo.com, or come to the box office at 184 East 76th Street, off Lexington Avenue, shortly before performance time. Dicapo's near-future plans include a concert of music by 20th century Italian-American composers, including Thomas Pasatieri, Gian-Carlo Menotti, Norman Dello Gioio, Mark Adamo and Vittorio Giannini; the American premiere of Gaetano Donizetti's Requiem, upstairs at St. Jean Baptiste; and Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," in the Brescia version. Check Dicapo's web site for details.