‘Ring’ circled on opera calendar

As long anticipated, Los Angeles Opera’s 2009-10 season, announced Thursday, will be dominated by the company’s -- and the city’s -- first production of the “Ring” cycle, which is by far the largest undertaking within the standard repertory for any performing arts institution.

Three complete performances of the four Wagner operas that make up the “Ring’” will be given at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, in a new staging by provocative German designer and director Achim Freyer, between May 29 and June 26, 2010.

The first two “Ring” operas, “Das Rheingold” (“The Rhine Gold”) and “Die Walkure” (“The Valkyrie”), are being done by L.A. Opera this season. “Siegfried” will be unveiled Sept. 26, and “Gotterdammerung” (“The Twilight of the Gods”) on April 23, 2010. Each of the latter two will be given five performances before integrated into the full cycle.

But with Wagner draining the budget, L.A. Opera has an otherwise reduced season of two beloved Italian comedies and two rarities. Although general director Placido Domingo has said that his intention is to present a new opera each season, the premiere of Daniel Catan’s “Il Postino,” which the company commissioned and which had been expected to open the season, has been postponed.

And unlike in recent years, when L.A. Opera had a gala opening weekend of two operas, the coming season will begin Sept. 12 with one, a revival of Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” (“The Elixir of Love”). The Steven Lawless production, though, boasts luxury casting with tenor Rolando Villazon, soprano Nino Machaidze, baritone Nathan Gunn and veteran Italian bass Ruggero Raimondi. The company’s music director, James Conlon, will conduct.

Gunn, starring in the company’s “The Magic Flute,” will return in next season’s other Italian favorite, “The Barber of Seville,” on Nov. 29. The production by Emilio Sagi comes from Madrid’s Teatro Real and will also star Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez and American soprano Joyce DiDonato, both known for their spectacular high notes. Michele Mariotti will conduct.

The rarities are Handel’s “Tamerlano” and Franz Schreker’s “Die Gezeichneten” (“The Stigmatized”). Handel’s opera will be imported from Washington National Opera, Domingo’s other company, and star the tenor as Bajazet, a Turkish leader who is conquered by the Tartar emperor Tamerlane, a countertenor role to be sung by Bejun Mehta. William Lacy will conduct the production by Chas Rader-Shieber that will also feature soprano Sarah Coburn and mezzo-sopranos Patricia Bardon and Jennifer Holloway. The first performance will be Nov. 21.

“Gezeichneten,” written in 1918, will be the latest in Conlon’s “Recovered Voices” project of reviving operas that were suppressed by the Nazis. The opera, which has never been seen in the U.S., has lately had notable successes in Germany and Austria. The Music Center’s new production, by Olivier Tambosi, will open April 10 and feature Robert Brubaker, Anja Kampe, Martin Ganter and James Johnson.

Casting for the “Ring” is almost complete with Vitalij Kowaljow (Wotan), Linda Watson (Brunnhilde), John Treleaven (Siegfried), Domingo (Siegmund) and Michelle DeYoung (Fricka). Only Sieglinde remains to be announced. Conlon will conduct all the performances. A “Ring” festival, with as many as 50 Southern California organizations participating, was recently touted to complement the 2010 cycle, but no details were included in the season announcement.

Two recitals will complete the season. Baritone Thomas Hampson will appear at the Chandler on Oct. 3 and soprano Renee Fleming on Dec. 12.

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mark.swed@latimes.com