OPERA

‘St. Francis’ Notes: Peter Sellars will direct and Jose Van Dam will star in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s performances of Olivier Messiaen’s monumental 5 1/2-hour opera, “St. Francis of Assisi” at the Salzburg Festival in 1992. The opera will be conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, who will officially begin his tenure as the Philharmonic’s music director in the fall of 1992. Van Dam will re-create the title role he originated for the opera’s Paris premiere in 1983 and the opera will be performed in Los Angeles after the Salzburg performance. The Philharmonic will also perform three concerts at the festival, two conducted by Salonen, and one by Pierre Boulez. The announcements were made at a Tuesday press conference in Los Angeles by Gerard Mortier, who will assume the directorship of the Salzburg Festival in 1992.