New ‘Fidelio’ Will Open 5th Music Center Opera Season

The fifth Music Center Opera season opens Sept. 4 with a new “Fidelio,” produced with the Canadian Opera. Staged by Gotz Friedrich and conducted by Jiri Kout, Beethoven’s only opera will enlist Karan Armstrong in the title role, opposite Gary Bachlund as Florestan.

For the first time, company artistic consultant Placido Domingo will not perform in the season opener. Although it had been announced in European publications that he would sing the role of Florestan, MCO general director Peter Hemmings said that Domingo has decided that he is not ready for the part at this time.

Other new productions for the 1990-91 season are “Idomeneo”--directed by Frank Corsaro and designed by Maurice Sendak, and originally scheduled for this season--and “Elektra”--directed by Peter Hall and designed by John Bury. “Fidelio” will be presented in repertory with “Nixon in China.” Music Center Opera was a co-producer of the John Adams-Alice Goodman-Peter Sellars extravaganza, which will be performed in its West Coast premiere by the original cast in association with the Los Angeles Festival. Kent Nagano and the company’s resident conductor, Randall Behr, share the conducting assignments.

The lineup is much changed from that projected last year. New productions of “Der Rosenkavalier” and “Hansel und Gretel” have been bumped to the 1991-92 season, and the “Aida” co-production has disappeared altogether. Hemmings said that “Aida” would be scheduled in the future, suggesting that it should not follow the massive touring “Aida” now scheduled for the Coliseum in June.

The fall season ends in October with Marilyn Horne and Benita Valente in the title roles of Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice,” in a production that will receive its premiere this summer at the Santa Fe Opera. The spring season begins in February with “Elektra,” and continues in April with a revival of “Cosi fan Tutte” from the 1988-89 season.

The brief tradition of a spring-summer musical or operetta seems abandoned for the moment. Hemmings said that the company would evaluate the success of “Oklahoma!” this season, and then decide whether to put in a production for next season.

June, 1991, brings instead Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” in a production by Piero Faggioni from the Teatro Colon, and Jonathan Miller’s staging of Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw,” directed here by David Ritch. In the former, Gwyneth Jones sings her first Minnie--a role which she shares with Carol Neblett--opposite Domingo as Dick Johnson. In the latter, Helen Donath makes her company debut as the Governess.

Highlights of the 1991-92 season include the previously announced world premiere of Aulis Salinen’s “Kullervo,” and new productions of “Madama Butterfly” and “Carmen,” plus “Rosenkavalier” and “Hansel und Gretel.” Charles Dutoit conducts a co-production of “Les Troyens” from the Maggio Musical in Florence.

1990

“Fidelio” by Ludwig van Beethoven. A new co-production with Canadian Opera, conducted by Jiri Kout, directed by Gotz Friedrich. Leonore: Karan Armstrong; Florestan: Gary Bachlund; Fernando: Lenus Carlson; Pizarro: Michael Devlin; Rocco: Matti Salminen; Marzelline: Elise Ross. Sept. 4, 7, 9, 12, 15.

“Nixon in China” by John Adams. A co-production with Houston Grand Opera, Netherlands Opera, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in association with the Los Angeles Festival. Conducted by Kent Nagano and Randall Behr, directed by Peter Sellars. Richard Nixon: James Maddalena; Pat Nixon: Carolann Page; Mao Tse-tung: John Duykers; Madame Mao: Trudy Ellen Craney; Henry Kissinger: Thomas Hammons; Chou En-lai: Sanford Sylvan. Sept. 11, 14, 16, 29, Oct. 7.

“Idomeneo” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A new production conducted by Christof Perick, staged by Frank Corsaro, designed by Maurice Sendak. Idomeneo: Siegfried Jerusalem; Idamante: Susan Quittmeyer; Ilia: Pamela Coburn; Elettra: Christine Weidinger. Sept. 25, 28, Oct. 2 and 5.

“Orfeo ed Euridice” by Christoph Willibald Gluck. Production from Santa Fe Opera conducted by Randall Behr, directed by Lamont Johnson, designed by Steven Rubin, choreography by Kimi Okada. Orfeo: Marilyn Horne; Euridice: Benita Valente. Oct. 3, 6, 9, 14.

1991

“Elektra” by Richard Strauss. A new production conducted by Lawrence Foster, directed by Peter Hall, designed by John Bury. Elektra: Marilyn Zschau; Klytamnestra: Helga Dernesch; Chrysothemis: Ealynn Voss; Aegisth: Gary Bachlund. Feb. 23, 27, March 2, 5.

“Cosi fan Tutte” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A revival of the 1988 production conducted by Randall Behr, directed by Peter Hall, designed by John Bury. Fiordiligi: Christine Weidinger; Dorabella: Jeanne Piland; Despina: Anne Howells; Ferrando: Jonathan Mack; Guglielmo: Rodney Gilfry; Don Alfonso: Richard Stilwell. April 8, 13, 15, 17, 20.

“La Fanciulla del West” by Giacomo Puccini. Production from the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, conducted by Richard Buckley, production by Piero Faggioni. Dick Johnson: Placido Domingo; Minnie: Gwyneth Jones and Carol Neblett; and Jack Rance: Justino Diaz. June 12, 15, 18, 21, 23.

“The Turn of the Screw,” by Benjamin Britten. Production from English National Opera conducted by Roderick Brydon, directed by David Ritch, original production by Jonathan Miller. Governess: Helen Donath; Peter Quint: Jonathan Mack, Mrs. Grose: Marvellee Cariaga; Miss Jessel: Angelique Burzynski. June 22, 25, 28, 30.