NYCO, Opera Pacific to Offer Back-to-Back Runs at Center in ’89

Orange County will get back-to-back opera mini-seasons in 1989, beginning in January when the New York City Opera returns to the Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, followed in February by Opera Pacific.

Sponsored by the Center, New York City Opera will stage three productions during one week in Costa Mesa:

Verdi’s “Rigoletto” (Jan. 17 and 19), in a new production directed by Tito Capobianco; Mozart’s “Die Zauberflote” (Jan. 18 and 20), staged by Lotfi Mansouri, and Franz Lehar’s “The Merry Widow” (Jan. 21 and 22), directed by Robert Johanson.

“Rigoletto” and “Zauberflote” will be sung in Italian and German, respectively, with English supertitles. “Merry Widow” will be sung in English.

The new “Rigoletto” will first be presented at Lincoln Center in New York on July 19. Sets and costumes will be designed by Carl Toms.

Mozart’s “Zauberflote” was staged for City Opera in 1987 by Mansouri, who this month was named general director of San Francisco Opera (he will assume full-time duties in January, 1989). The production was broadcast over public television on the “Live From Lincoln Center” series last October.

The production of “Merry Widow” was created in 1982 but will be revised for the Costa Mesa dates. The new sets will be by Helen Pond and Herbert Senn; costumes by Suzanne Mess.

The local appearances will be the New York company’s only West Coast engagement. New York City Opera last appeared at the Center in January, 1987.

Casting and musical direction will be announced in the fall.

Details of Opera Pacific’s 1989 engagement at the Center, which will run from Feb. 11 through Feb. 25, are expected to be announced Friday.

“We do not see (the back-to-back seasons) as competitive,” Center President Thomas R. Kendrick said in announcing the New York City Opera season. “We see this as an opportunity to give Orange County audiences a broader repertory of opera.”

Kendrick cited scheduling and financial considerations for the proximity of the dates.

David DiChiera, general director of Opera Pacific, said he is “pleased that we could coordinate our seasons, that they are complementary.

“I’m sure it would have been better if (the two seasons) could have been spread five or six months apart, but it didn’t work that way. We did this two years ago, in terms of both companies having seasons in a contiguous timing. Obviously, the appetite is strong enough in Orange County that both seasons did very well.”

Kendrick said, however, that the question of why the Center is sponsoring opera “is a legitimate one” but reflects the Center’s policy.

“Opera Pacific is aware--and has been--that we would bring in touring opera companies, both national and international,” he said. “We still intend to do that. We are not committing to any one company. We are trying to form long-term relationships with a number of companies. But that does not mean we will present every company every year. . . . But of course we support Opera Pacific.”

Kendrick described the NYCO repertory as “more or less traditional.

“We tried to put together three new productions--the emphasis is on new --that (general director) Beverly (Sills) thinks are the strongest she has.”

As for forging the long-term relationship, Kendrick said:

“We’re taking it one step at a time, on both sides. It’s a large company--250 people--that travels with its orchestra, as does New York City Ballet. It’s a very costly project that requires very substantial subsidy.”

Kendrick refused to give exact figures, saying only that “the more opera you present, the more money you lose.”

Whether the Center will bring NYCO back in 1989-90 is an open question.

“We will measure what happens this time and make that decision on that basis,” Kendrick said.”

Series tickets for NYCO’s two- and three-opera packages will range from $32 to $153 and will go on sale April 25. Tickets to individual operas will range from $15 to $52 and will be available later this year. For further information, call (714) 556-2787.

Meanwhile, the Pacific Chorale has finalized its 1988-89 season at the Performing Arts Center. Among the works on the chorale’s 21st season are Berlioz’s Requiem and Vincent Persichetti’s Te Deum.

Dates and repertory for the 21st season are as follows:

--Nov. 4: Persichetti’s Te Deum, Brahms’ “Triumphlied” and Walton’s “Belshazzar’s Feast.”

--Dec. 19 and 20: Christmas program.

--March 19, 1989: Berlioz’s Requiem (“Grands Messe des Morts”).

--April 29: Third Annual Choral Festival, including an Orange County Centennial Salute to American Composers.

In addition, a non-subscription performance of Handel’s “Messiah” will be given on Dec. 19, 1988.

Music director John Alexander will conduct all concerts.

Series tickets will range from $40 to $130 and will go on sale on April 15. Single tickets, ranging from $12.50 to $40, will be available starting Oct. 15.

For further information, call (714) 542-1790.

Several members of Pacific Symphony’s search committee to find a new music director have been announced by committee chairman Preston Stedman. Los Angeles Philharmonic executive director Ernest Fleischmann will serve as an advisory, non-voting member. Voting members will include Raymond J. Ikola, former president and now member of the board, and emeritus board member Lorraine Lippold. A fourth voting board member is yet to be named. Three representatives from the orchestra will be elected this week, Stedman said.