Domingo, Patti Agree to Sing Before Mass

Operatic tenor Placido Domingo and contemporary gospel singer Sandi Patti have agreed to perform on a musical program preceding the Mass to be celebrated by Pope John Paul II before 100,000 people at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Sept. 15, it has been announced.

Confirmation of Domingo’s appearance, however, awaits formal permission from the New York Metropolitan Opera, according to Tom McCoy of McCoy-Rigby Productions in Long Beach.

Domingo is scheduled to conclude the concert, which will begin at 4:30 p.m. and end at 5:45 p.m., with four songs, including “Ave Maria” and the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah” with a 1,500-voice choir. The Mass is expected to begin about 6 p.m.

Besides Domingo and Patti, a two-time Grammy winner, the concert will include as performers Franciscan Brother John Michael Talbot, the International Children’s Choir, the Paulist Boys Chorister of California and a 95-voice gospel choir formed from black parishes in Southern California.

Actor Joseph Campanella will narrate portions of the program, McCoy said. Large video screens will also display scenes from John Paul’s last U.S. tour in 1979.