Adam Shelton plays Fritz and Meray Boustani is Suzel in the UA Opera Theater production of "L'Amico Fritz."

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There's a certain truth about opera, regardless of what language it's sung in or when it was written: Drama is key.

So when the drama is absent, the opera — especially in the States — often languishes, rarely seeing the stagelights.

Which could explain why you rarely if ever see an American company stage Pietro Mascagni's "L'Amico Fritz," the relatively drama-less tale of an older man who struggles with his first feelings of love.

"It's not done that often in this country, maybe partly because of the story," said Charles Roe, director of the University of Arizona Opera Theater, which will mount the production in four performances next week. Roe said the production has never been staged in Tucson.

"There's not a lot of drama in it. There's no villain in the piece. It's, will the couple find each other?"

The love story, about a man who on his 40th birthday rediscovers a young girl who has blossomed into a woman, unfolds amid lovely music and a memorable aria.

"The music is almost Puccini-esque, and this precedes Puccini; he was not a big success yet," Roe said.

UA graduate voice students will be double cast in the leading roles and a chorus will perform off-stage. The production will be sung in Italian with English surtitles.

The Arizona Symphony Orchestra will perform under the direction of Charles Bontrager, the newly appointed assistant director of orchestral activities who makes his UA opera debut.

Bontrager came to the UA with a fairly extensive résumé of conducting posts, including opera, and has already conducted the Arizona Symphony in concert.

"He's very patient with the students, and I really like his style," Roe said of his colleague. "Very understanding and yet demanding at the same."

"L'Amico Fritz"

• Composer: Pietro Mascagni.

• Presented by: University of Arizona Opera Theater.

• When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Nov. 17, 3 p.m. Nov. 18.

• Where: Crowder Hall, East Speedway and North Park Avenue.

• Tickets: $15, with discounts available through the Fine Arts Complex box office, 621-1162.

• Synopsis: In Alsace during the late 19th century, Fritz, a wealthy middle-age landowner, bets Rabbi David that he will remain a lifelong bachelor. But his vow begins to unravel when he becomes captivated by Suzel, the daughter of one of David's tenants. David toys with Fritz when he tells him he has found Suzel a young husband. Fritz is so upset that he leaves without a word to the young woman, who, it turns out, is in love with him. Despairing, the young woman later appeals to Fritz to save her from the so-called marriage. In the end, he confesses his love and loses the bet, but the soft-hearted David donates the winnings — a vineyard — to Suzel.