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Next Opera Pacific Season Mapped Out : Schedule: Five stage works and a benefit concert headlined by Placido Domingo are planned for 1991-92.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Opera Pacific will present five stage works, including a double bill and an operetta, for its 1991-92 season at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, officials announced Thursday. Tenor Placido Domingo will headline a benefit concert for the company on Jan. 12 to complete the season’s offerings.

The company’s sixth season will open Sept. 7 with Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci.” The frequently paired works, which usually are presented in the reverse order, will run though Sept. 14. They will be followed by Puccini’s “Tosca” (Jan. 17-25, 1992), Emmerich Kalman’s operetta “The Gypsy Princess” (Die Csardasfurstin), (Feb. 21 to March 8), and Saint-Saens’ “Samson et Dalila” (Feb. 26 to March 6).

Domingo’s concert, with tickets running from $25 to $300, will also feature soprano Ann Panagulias.

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All operas will be sung by two casts of principals.

In “Cavalleria,” Turridu will be sung by Fabio Armiliato and a tenor to be named. Celine Imbert and a soprano to be named will be Santuzza. Robert McFarland and Mark Rucker will alternate as Alfio.

In “Pagliacci,” Ermanno Mauro and a tenor to be named will sing Canio. Mariana Christos will sing Nedda. Marquita Lister, listed as an alternate Nedda in an Opera Pacific brochure issued last week to current subscribers, has not been confirmed, according to a company spokesman. McFarland and Rucker will alternate as Tonio. Jeff Mattsey, previously seen as Schaunard in Puccini’s “La Boheme” for Opera Pacific in 1987, will be Silvio.

The “Cav/Pag” productions were designed in 1976 for the San Francisco Opera by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. The conductor and stage directors will be named. Dates are Sept. 7, 8, 11, 13 and 14.

Diana Soviero, seen as Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata” for Opera Pacific in 1990, will sing the title role of Puccini’s “Tosca.” An alternate Tosca will be named. Giorgio Tieppo, who sang Calaf in Puccini’s “Turandot” in 1990, and a tenor to be named will be Cavaradossi. Harry Dworchak and a baritone to be named will sing Scarpia. John DeMain will conduct. David Pfeiffer will be stage director. Dates are Jan. 17, 19, 23-25.

Kalman’s “Gypsy Princess,” written in 1915, will play Feb. 21, 27 and 28 and March 7 and 8. Casting will be announced.

In “Samson et Dalila,” the second opera in a projected five-year presentation of French repertory, Vladimir Atlantov and a tenor to be named will alternate as Samson. Ludmila Schemtchuk will be the first of two Dalilas. Catherine Keene, listed in the Opera Pacific brochure, has not been confirmed; nor has Gregory Stapp, also on the brochure, as the High Priest.

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Beni Montresor will design the production, a joint commission between Opera Pacific, Michigan Opera Theatre, Houston Grand Opera and Portland Opera. David DiChiera, general manager of Opera Pacific, is also general director of Michigan Opera. Dates are Feb. 26, 29, March 1, 5 and 6.

In addition to conducting “Tosca,” DeMain also will direct the Opera Pacific Orchestra for the Domingo benefit. The concert is part of a collaborative agreement between Opera Pacific, Los Angeles Music Center Opera and the Performing Arts Center in LAMCO bringing Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” to the Costa Mesa facility in June (1991). Domingo is artistic consultant to the Los Angeles company.

Season tickets, which do not include the Domingo benefit, will range from $72 to $700. Information: (714) 546-7372.

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