Domingo to Sing Rare Work in O.C. : Music: The tenor will star in the West Coast premiere of Penella’s ‘El Gato Montes,’ sponsored by Opera Pacific.

Tenor Placido Domingo will return to Orange County to rehearse and then sing the West Coast premiere of the Spanish zarzuela “El Gato Montes” by Manuel Penella on Jan. 15. His local appearance will be sponsored by Opera Pacific.

Music Center Opera general director Peter Hemmings called Penella’s 1916 work the “extreme rarity” of the company’s 1993-94 season, which was announced Tuesday. He insisted that the work belongs to the world of opera more than to zarzuela, the Spanish musical-theater form.

“El Gato Montes” will rehearse at the Orange County center and receive one performance before six performances Jan. 19-29 at the Los Angeles Music Center. Hemmings mentioned the arrangement as part of “the idea of borrowing and sharing” productions that helps sustain companies “in these difficult times for performing arts organizations throughout the world.”

He emphasized that this “renewal of our relationship with Orange County” is now “directly with Opera Pacific,” rather than with OCPAC. All three groups cooperatively brought Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” to Costa Mesa in 1991.

David DiChiera, general director of Opera Pacific, said the company is “hoping to showcase (Domingo) on a regular basis.” Because the tenor performed a concert in his first Costa Mesa appearance, DiChiera said he wanted to bring in a full production starring Domingo. Also, offering a Spanish work fits in with company plans for increased outreach to the county’s Latino community, DiChiera said.

“The Domingo factor plus the Hispanic factor were the things that made it interesting to me,” DiChiera said Tuesday. He said he considers the single Orange County date a premiere and not a “tryout” for the full Los Angeles run: “I don’t think this is a tryout, because as you know, Los Angeles’ critics are our critics.”

The final dress rehearsal in Segerstrom Hall will probably be opened to an audience, possibly of schoolchildren, DiChiera said.

Domingo, the Los Angeles company’s artistic consultant, sang a recital to benefit Opera Pacific last year in what was widely regarded as a quid pro quo for the L.A. company bringing “La Fanciulla del West” to Orange County. The center is Opera Pacific’s home turf.

Joining Domingo will be Justino Diaz and Veronica Villarroel. The production will use sets and costumes from the Teatro Lirico Nacional La Zarzuela in Madrid.

Additionally, Music Center Opera’s next season will find Domingo conducting some performances of Puccini’s “La Boheme.” And David Hockney returns as designer of a lavish new Covent Garden production of Richard Strauss’ “Die Frau ohne Schatten .”

Film director and former choreographer Herbert Ross will make his debut as an opera director with “La Boheme.” The long-deferred “Der Rosenkavalier” is on the schedule at last (though the long-deferred “Aida” isn’t).

As previously reported, John Adams’ controversial opera, “The Death of Klinghoffer” has been postponed--with not even an estimate given of when it might eventually be presented.

Hemmings cited financial constraints as the sole reason for the postponement. He denied that charges of anti-Semitism leveled at “Klinghoffer” since its premiere (and which led to one scene being deleted from the production) had any influence on the decision.

He called “Klinghoffer” potentially “the most expensive opera per performance” of the season, partly due to a smaller number of performances scheduled and partly to the large chorus and dance company required. Noting that Adams’ “Nixon in China” did 72% of capacity in its 1990 Music Center performances, Hemmings said that average attendance was “82% to 83%” at Music Center Opera, with bread-and-butter repertory drawing audiences up to the low 90%.

Postponing “Klinghoffer” was “an agonizing choice,” he said. “We had to do something drastic to (prevent losses that) would put the company’s future in jeopardy.” Music Center Opera previously committed $137,691 to co-producing the opera, which was co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Festival.

The postponement leaves the season without a remotely contemporary work. Moreover, though a number of internationally celebrated singers are scheduled to appear, no conductor of comparable stature has been engaged.

Only seven operas will be presented in the 1993-’94 season, one less than previously, though Hemmings said there will be the same number of performances, largely due to “a 15% increase in subscriptions last year.” Music Center Opera has broken even for the last four years and there is no accumulated deficit, he said, though “we wish our reserves were larger.”

The 1993-94 season:

* “La Boheme” (Puccini): Sept. 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 23, 26. Conducted by Placido Domingo/Randall Behr, directed by Herbert Ross, designed by Gerard Howland (sets), Peter J. Hall (costumes), with Kallen Esperian, Catherine Naglestad, Craig Sirianni, Jeffrey Black, Richard Bernstein.

* “Un Ballo in Maschera” (Verdi): Sept. 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 19. Conducted by Richard Buckley, directed by Stephen Lawless, designed by Jurgen Rose, with Ealynn Voss/Leona Mitchell, Florence Quivar/Stefania Toczyska, Gwendolyn Bradley, Vyacheslav Polozov/Domingo, Donnie Ray Albert/Dmitri Kharitonov.

* “Die Frau ohne Schatten” (R. Strauss): Oct. 31, Nov. 3, 6, 8, 10, 13. Conducted by Behr, directed by John Cox, designed by David Hockney (sets) and Ian Falconer (costumes), with Ellen Shade, Gwyneth Jones/Aleicia Byrnes-Harris, Jane Henschel, James O’Neal, Franz Grundheber.

* “El Gato Montes” (Penella): Jan. 15 in Costa Mesa; Jan. 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 29 in Los Angeles. Conducted by Behr, directed by Emilio Sagi, designed by Julio Galan, choreographed by Goyo Montero, with Veronica Villarroel/Paloma Perez-Inigi, Domingo/Antonio Ordonez, Justino Diaz, Suzanna Guzman.

* “Madama Butterfly” (Puccini): Feb. 23, 26, 28, March 2, 5, 8, 1994. Conducted by Behr, production by Ian Judge restaged by Christopher Harlan, designed by John Gunter (sets), Liz da Costa (costumes), with Maria Ewing, Stephanie Vlahos, Marcus Haddock, John Atkins.

* “Le Nozze di Figaro” (Mozart): April 12, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 1994. Conducted by Markus Stenz, production by Peter Hall restaged by Stephen Lawless, designed by John Bury, with Angela Maria Blasi, Solveig Kringelborn, Paula Rasmussen, Gerald Finley/Bernstein, Thomas Allen.

* “Der Rosenkavalier” (R. Strauss): May 29, June 1, 4, 7, 10, 12, 1994. Conducted by Jiri Kout, directed by Gotz Friedrich, designer to be announced, with Frederica von Stade, Karan Armstrong, Sumi Jo, Helmut Berger-Tuna, Jonathan Welch.

Free-lance writer Rick VanderKnyff contributed to this report.