Tenor Domingo Bows Out of Show Preceding Pope’s Coliseum Mass

Opera star Placido Domingo has cancelled his appearance--scheduled for 10 months and prominently advertised--in “Celebration of Joy,” a musical extravaganza preceding the Mass that Pope John Paul II will celebrate at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Sept. 15.

Domingo informed officials of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and independent producer Tom McCoy, who is producing the pre-Mass musical event, late Monday evening that he will not participate in the program. Domingo’s secretary-manager, Paul Garner, in relaying the message, said Domingo could not be released from his rehearsal obligations to the Metropolitan Opera in New York on the same day.

But according to McCoy and Father Art Holquin, who helped organize “Celebration of Joy,” the Spanish tenor’s interest in the performance hinged on the presence of the Pope in the audience.

Blames Communication

“I believe (Domingo) decided not to sing when it became evident the Pope would not be in the audience,” McCoy said. “We had been telling his people that for months--that the Pope’s security people wouldn’t allow him to be that exposed for so long--but apparently communication is so bad that only recently did Domingo realize the Pope wouldn’t be listening.”

McCoy said Domingo’s withdrawal will not alter the rest of the program for “Celebration of Joy,” a 75-minute concert that will precede the Pope’s scheduled arrival at the Coliseum. Other performers include the Pacific Symphony of Costa Mesa, singers Sandi Patti and Deniece Williams, the Orange County Master Chorale and trumpeters, gospel singers and a 1,250-member choir.

Metropolitan Opera officials confirmed Wednesday that Domingo, one of the world’s most celebrated tenors, is scheduled to sing the title role in Verdi’s opera “Otello” in New York on Sept. 21.

McCoy said Wednesday that Domingo and his staff had known of the conflict for months and were told that the tenor would be excused from the day’s rehearsal for the Los Angeles event.

‘Out of the Blue’

” . . . Just last week, Domingo was talking to me about the song he was going to sing in Spanish for the occasion,” McCoy said. “(The cancellation) just came right out of the blue.”

“Of course, the Mass itself with His Holiness is the main event,” Holquin said, “but we were keenly disappointed in Mr. Domingo’s sudden withdrawal from the concert.”

Metropolitan Opera officials said Wednesday that Domingo’s presence at the Sept. 15 rehearsal of “Otello” was strongly urged, but not essential. (Domingo opened the Music Center Opera’s inaugural season in Los Angeles last year in the same role.) They also confirmed that his schedule in New York had been known to Domingo and Garner since last year.

Neither Domingo, who was in Vienna, Austria, for a performance, nor Garner was available to clarify the tenor’s reasons for withdrawing from the concert.