Domingo Ill; Music Center Switches Operas

Less than three months before the scheduled opening of the L.A. Music Center Opera production of “Queen of Spades,” the company has announced that the Tchaikovsky opera will be replaced by Verdi’s “Don Carlo,” on the same dates in April.

The late switch marks the first time that the 4-year-old company has changed productions on such short notice. Generally, opera productions are planned three years in advance.

In a statement prepared before he flew to the East Coast for a meeting, Peter Hemmings, general director of the company, announced Friday that the change was made due to the recent illness of Placido Domingo.

The Spanish tenor, who was scheduled to sing the role of Ghermann in “Queen of Spades,” has recently been suffering from influenza and was unable to prepare for the role, Hemmings said.

Instead, Domingo has asked to sing the title role in “Don Carlo,” one of his better-known roles. Hemmings said that Domingo hopes to perform in the Tchaikovsky opera at a later date.

The “Don Carlo” production, borrowed from the Lyric Opera of Chicago, will be conducted by Yuri Simonov, who was scheduled to conduct “Queen of Spades.” Soprano Natalia Troitskaya, who also was scheduled to appear in “Queen of Spades,” will sing the role of Elisabetta in “Don Carlo,” which will be given in Verdi’s four-act Italian version with English supertitles. Domingo took the title role in Chicago.

The role of Eboli will be sung by Nina Terentieva, a member of the Bolshoi Opera who made her Vienna Opera debut in 1987 as Azucena in “Il Trovatore,” and her North American debut as Eboli with Canadian Opera.

In his U.S. debut, Soviet basso Barseg Tumayan, will sing the role of King Philip.

Repeating her Chicago assignment will be stage director Sonja Frisell. Sets are by Gianni Quaranta and costumes by Dada Saligeri, the team responsible for the new Metropolitan Opera production of “Aida.”.

A spokesman said the company hopes to schedule “Queen of Spades,” which was a co-production with La Scala, Milan, in a subsequent season.

Patrons holding tickets for “Queen of Spades” who do not wish to attend “Don Carlo” may mail their tickets to Ticket Services, L.A. Opera, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles 90012, for refunds.

Performance dates and times remain the same: April 20, 22, 25 and 28, all at 8 p.m.