Domingo Will Wear Three Hats for L.A. Opera

The 2000-2001 Los Angeles Opera season, to be unveiled today, was largely designed by departing general director Peter Hemmings, but Placido Domingo will mark his arrival at the helm next season with appearances both as conductor and singer.

In announcing the program, Hemmings and L.A. Opera artistic director-designate Domingo acknowledged that the season had been planned well in advance of Domingo’s appointment, which was made public in 1998 and is set to begin in July. He nevertheless has added his voice to the eight-opera season by scheduling three additional concerts in which he will appear with the Kirov Orchestra of St. Petersburg, conducted by Valery Gergiev. Singing Wagner for the first time in Los Angeles, Domingo will perform Act 1 of “The Valkyrie” and Act 2 of “Parsifal” on Sept. 10, 13 and 15.

In a telephone interview from Washington, D.C., where he was meeting with his board as part of his duties as head of the Washington Opera, Domingo said he wanted very much to ensure he would be part of next season as a performer as well as an administrator: “It was the first year that I [wasn’t scheduled to sing] in L.A. I will conduct ‘Aida’ and some ‘Bohemes.’ And since I am still singing, I thought that maybe it was not a good way to start the first season.”

A fortunate coincidence provided the opportunity for the added concerts: “I talked to Gergiev, and because of a tour he is doing, which brings him to the Hollywood Bowl, we were able to combine with the Hollywood Bowl.” Bowl officials, who have not yet announced this summer’s season, would not confirm the appearance there of either Gergiev or the Kirov Orchestra; Gergiev and the Kirov have previously appeared downtown and at the Hollywood Bowl, but never before with the L.A. Opera.

“I’m looking forward to singing Wagner in Los Angeles,” Domingo added, “because the public in Los Angeles loves music, and it will be quite wonderful.”

Eight operas, four of them new to the Los Angeles Opera, make up the season, which opens in September and continues through June. Highlights include Deborah Voigt singing the title role in an L.A. Opera premiere of Verdi’s “Aida,” with Domingo conducting four performances; Jennifer Larmore as Angelina in a new co-production of Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” (“Cinderella”); Oscar-winning film director John Schlesinger directing Benjamin Britten’s “Peter Grimes”; countertenors David Daniels and Bejun Mehta performing with soprano Elizabeth Futral in the company’s first production of Handel’s “Julius Caesar”; bass-baritone Richard Bernstein as Figaro in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”; Ruth Ann Swenson and Thomas Allen pairing up in Gaetano Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale”; and Catherine Malfitano reprising her Emmy Award-winning portrayal of the diva in “Tosca.” The season also includes a reprise of L.A. Opera’s popular “La Boheme.”

“Aida” was co-commissioned by L.A. Opera with Houston Grand Opera and was first seen in Houston in 1987 as the opening production of the Wortham Center, but it has been a long wait for L.A. Opera fans.

“It’s very big, very heavy, and difficult to cast as well,” said Hemmings in explaining the delay, adding “but we’ve overcome all of those.”

Voigt’s L.A. Opera debut in the production opening Sept. 6 follows her recent appearance singing Verdi with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, after which The Times’ music critic Mark Swed wrote that she has “the potential--very close to being realized--to be a Verdian of legend.” In addition to Domingo, William Vendice, L.A. Opera’s head of music staff and chorus director, will conduct five performances of “Aida,” directed by Stephen Pickover.

Larmore won critical acclaim as Angelina in “La Cenerentola” at the Metropolitan Opera, and in L.A. she will sing opposite tenor Kurt Streit, who sang with her in the L.A. production of “The Italian Girl in Algiers.” In addition, L.A. regular baritone Rodney Gilfry, along with Bernstein, will appear in the co-production with Pittsburgh Opera “La Cenerentola.” Thor Steingraber will direct, and Gabriele Ferro will conduct. The production opens Sept. 8.

Britten’s “Peter Grimes,” which tells the story of a tormented English fisherman, is L.A.’s first co-production with Italy’s famed La Scala, where the production will have its premiere in June and July. Tenor Philip Langridge will sing Grimes; also in the cast are L.A. regulars Suzanna Guzman and Greg Fedderly.

Guzman also will appear in “Julius Caesar,” opening Feb. 23, a production from Opera Australia, directed by Francisco Negrin.

“La Boheme,” which opens Nov. 29 and will be conducted by Domingo and William Vendice, marks the return of the production by film director Herbert Ross (“The Turning Point,” “Footloose” and “The Goodbye Girl”), which when it premiered in 1993 was the company’s first collaboration with a major Hollywood director.

Peter Hall’s “The Marriage of Figaro” opens the new year on Jan. 16, 2001, directed here by Steingraber. Marco Guidarini conducts. “Don Pasquale,” opening April 11, 2001, will be conducted by Emmanuel Joel, with Stephen Lawless directing Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s production. “Tosca” opens June 6, 2001, with Richard Buckley conducting and Christopher Harlan directing Ian Judge’s original staging.

As he faces his departure from L.A. Opera after 15 years as its leader, Hemmings was reluctant to point to any single moment in the upcoming season as a favorite, focusing instead on the company’s opening this week of “Faust.” “I always say, I’m proud of it all. I don’t have likes and dislikes as far as pieces are concerned. At the moment, I’m enjoying ‘Faust’ very much.”

For a complete schedule, call (213) 972-8001.