7:30pm / Opera

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, L.A. Opera unveils a new “La Traviata”--in which Bad Girl gets Boy, Bad Girl loses Boy, Bad Girl gets Bad Cough and tragedy ensues. All to the tune of the exceedingly hummable “Drinking Song.” This production, swathed in red satin, has Carol Vaness and Greg Fedderly as the leads and Marta Domingo (Mrs. Placido) at the helm.

* “La Traviata,” L.A. Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 18, 21, 24, March 3, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 27 and March 6, 1 p.m. $25-$137. (213) 972-8001.

5pm: Music

Back in the ‘60s, the Pasadena Art Museum was famous for all things avant garde, not the least of which was its Encounters music series. Starting today, Southwest Chamber Music pays homage to that tradition with eight weeks of programming dedicated to the then-new and still unusual, as an adjunct to the multivenue art show Radical P.A.S.T. The first of seven concerts features local flute heroine Dorothy Stone in an all-Karlheinz Stockhausen program.

* Dorothy Stone, 5 p.m., Pasadena Armory for the Arts, 145 N. Raymond Ave., $10-$20. (800) 726-7147. This program repeats Tuesday, Zipper Hall, Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave.

1:30pm / Family

Preschoolers and limber grown-ups can move along with the Clock Rug Stretch and the Ten Second Tidy when the first “Big Comfy Couch Live Concert” makes a tour stop at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Loonette and Molly and Loonette’s 12-foot comfy couch share the spotlight in this sing-along musical concert stage version of the award-winning PBS children’s show.

* “The Big Comfy Couch Live Concert,” Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, Sunday, 1:30 p.m. $19 to $25. (714) 740-7878, (213) 365-3500.

3pm: Jazz

Trumpeter-fluegelhornist Art Farmer was there at the 1958 gathering of famed jazz musicians that resulted in the documentary “A Great Day in Harlem.” Farmer, now based in Vienna, will be on hand for “A Great Day in Watts” to talk about the 1994 film as well as perform with his quintet during this benefit for the Watts Labor Community Action Committee.

* “A Great Day in Watts,” Watts Labor Community Action Committee Center, Phoenix Hall, 10950 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles. $25 to $35. (323) 566-8527.

8pm: Smooth Jazz

Ballads and heartfelt instrumentals will rule “Love Jazz Festival ‘99” as vocalist Jean Carne, saxophonist Marion Meadows, singer Miki Howard and drummer-bandleader Norman Connors strike moods for your valentine. Want your love to burn? Percussionist Pete Escovedo’s orchestra will provide the fire.

* “Love Jazz Festival ‘99,” Royce Hall, UCLA. $30 to $45. (310) 825-2101.

all day: Culture

“Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity,” a joint effort between UCLA’s Fowler Museum and the Newark (N.J.) Museum, traces the West African roots of the revered cloth and illustrates how freely it has been woven into the lifestyles of many African Americans. It opens on Valentine’s Day and runs through Independence Day.

* “Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity,” at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 405 Hilgard Ave., Westwood. (310) 825-4361. Wednesdays to Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; Thursdays, noon-8 p.m. Adults $5, seniors and students $3, 17 and under free. Sundays and Thursdays free.

Freebies: Two-hour winter adventure walk in Topanga State Park, departing from the nature center on Entrada Road, east of Topanga Canyon Boulevard, at 1 p.m. (818) 888-6856.

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Canines compete for the Eukanuba Cup in the Animal Planet National Dog Championship at Collins Court, UCLA campus, near the Westwood Avenue entrance. 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. (310) 825-4321.