New ‘Cosi’, ‘Wozzeck’ by Music Center Opera

New productions of “Cosi fan Tutte” and “Wozzeck,” and the premiere of a new critical edition of an old favorite mark the 1988-89 season for the Music Center Opera, as announced Tuesday. Plans for the 1989-90 season include five new productions and a revival of the “Falstaff” produced by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1982.

The first performance of a new edition of “Les Contes d’Hoffman,” opens the next season, replacing the “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci” bill previously announced. Placido Domingo sings the title role, opposite Julia Migenes as his four loves and Rodney Gilfry as his four nemeses.

According to MCO general director Peter Hemmings, “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci” have been postponed for three reasons: fiscal caution, the unexpected availability of the new “Hoffman” edition, and a contract squabble.

Although there will be 47 performances of eight operas next season, compared to 38 performances of seven operas this year (neither figure counting previews), the budget will only rise 2%, from $10.47 million to $10.7 million. Not knowing how the new tax laws and the October stock market crash will affect charitable giving, “our board felt it would be prudent to increase the budget only slightly,” Hemmings stated.

That made “Hoffman”--in a production borrowed from the Miami Opera and recently staged in San Francisco--a viable alternative to the more costly new productions. It became particularly attractive when the scheduled premiere of Michael Kaye’s new edition in Vienna was cancelled for economic reasons, allowing MCO the opportunity to give the first performances of the new version--another attempt to re-create Offenbach’s original intentions.

The third reason for postponing--no future date has been set--”Cavalleria/Pagliacci” is also monetary. “We were another company to have a problem with an Italian singer,” Hemmings said. Giovanna Casolla had been slated to sing Santuzza in “Cavalleria,” but she demanded a renegotiation of her contract, based on the declining value of the dollar.

“The fees in Italian opera houses have escalated out of all proportion in the last two years,” Hemmings said. Singers in major Italian houses can now earn almost twice what MCO can pay, he said.

“Hoffman” will alternate with MCO’s new production of “Cosi fan Tutte,” directed by Peter Hall and conducted by Christof Perick. The other new production is “Wozzeck,” presented in association with the Philharmonic. As previously announced, Simon Rattle will conduct the production--his first with a U.S. company--staged by David Alden.

MCO has become the production arm of the long-established Guild Opera. “Cosi fan Tutte” will tour the area in January, under Guild auspices, in performances for children and students.

“Tosca,” conducted by Domingo, the company’s artistic consultant, is at the top of the plans for 1989-90. The new production will be directed by Peter Hall, with his wife, Maria Ewing, making her first appearance in the title role. Neil Shicoff sings Cavaradossi, with Justino Diaz as Scarpia.

Other operas--all co-productions--for ‘89-90 include:

“The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny” (Weill/Brecht), conducted by Kent Nagano, directed by Jonathan Miller, designed by Robert Israel, with Anna Steiger and Gary Bachlund.

“Idomeneo” (Mozart), conducted by Lawrence Foster, directed by Frank Corsaro, designed by Maurice Sendak, with Arleen Auger, Angela Blasi, Frederica von Stade and Paul Frey.

“Falstaff” (Verdi), conducted by Foster, with Ingvar Wixell, Alan Titus, Karan Armstrong, Helga Dernesch, Barbara Bonney and Jorge Lopez-Yanez.

“Orlando Furioso” (Vivaldi), production by Pier Luigi Pizzi, with Marilyn Horne and Kathleen Kuhlmann.

“Pikovaya Dama” (Tchaikovsky), directed by Andrei Konchalowsky, with Domingo.

The much-publicized “Nixon in China,” a MCO co-production, is scheduled to coincide with the next Los Angeles Festival, now set for September 1990.

As previously announced, next season will also bring revivals of last year’s “Otello” and “Salome.” Janacek’s “Katya Kabanova” (co-production with the Paris Opera), “Tancredi” (co-production with the Chicago Lyric Opera) and “Orpheus in the Underworld” (co-production with the English National Opera and the Houston Grand Opera) complete the season.

The Offenbach operetta will be given an extended run, in performances by the resident company singers. Hemmings cites the popularity of the upcoming “Mikado” as the impetus for a decision to include a light opera or musical in each season, as a money-maker and audience booster.

All the performances will be given at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion next season, though Hemmings said the company may return some productions to the Wiltern Theatre the following season, depending on scheduling. The subscription brochures, which will be mailed in mid-April, will show a $5 increase in the top ticket prices, with the balcony price unchanged.

The 1988-89 season in brief:

“Les Contes D’Hoffman” (Offenbach), conducted by Richard Buckley, directed by Frank Corsaro, designed by Gunther Schneider-Siemssen, with Domingo, Migenes, Gilfry, Stephanie Vlahos and Michael Smith--Oct. 7, 10, 13, 16, 18.

“Cosi fan Tutte” (Mozart), conducted by Perick, directed by Hall, designed by John Bury, with Carol Vaness, Maria Ewing, Anne Howells, Jonathan Mack, Jeffrey Black and Stafford Dean--Oct. 8, 11, 14, 16.

“Katya Kabanova” (Janacek), conducted by Jiri Kout, directed by Gotz Friedrich, with Karan Armstrong, Leonie Rysanek, Warren Ellsworth and Richard Casilly--Oct. 15, 17, 23, 25.

“Wozzeck” (Berg), conducted by Rattle, directed by Alden, designed by David Fielding, with Elise Ross, Benjamin Luxon, Franz Mazura, Francis Egerton, Ellsworth and Mack--Dec. 1, 3, 6, 9, 11.

“Tancredi” (Rossini), conducted by Henry Lewis, directed by John Copley, with Horne, Christine Weidinger and Chris Merritt--Feb. 17, 20, 25, 27.

“Otello” (Verdi), conducted by Lawrence Foster, directed by Friedrich, with Ilona Tokody, Domingo and Diaz--Mar. 25, 28, 31, April 2.

“Salome” (R. Strauss), conducted by Randall Behr, directed by Hall, designed by Bury, with Ewing, Marvellee Cariaga, Ragnar Ulfung and Michael Devlin--April 18, 23, 27, May 1.

“Orpheus in the Underworld” (Offenbach), conducted by John DeMain, directed by Peter Schifter, designed by Gerald Scarfe, with Tracy Dahl, Cariaga, Mack and Robert Orth--June 7-23.