You might have thought it would have happened by now, but mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux is finally making her New York City Opera debut this fall. She will sing the role of Juno in Handel's "Semele," itself a premiere for the company.

	New Israeli Opera Vivica Genaux will sing the role of Juno in Handel's "Semele" for New York City Opera. Click photo for larger image.

The opera begins its run Sept. 13 in a production by Stephen Lawless, but for Genaux the fun with Handel starts one day earlier. That's when Virgin Classics releases a disc of Handel and Hasse arias with the baroque-expert Genaux singing with Les Violons du Roy under the direction of Bernard Labadie.

Davis to miss galas

The good news is that Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra artistic advisor Sir Andrew Davis' bypass operation on his left leg was successful. "All went well,' Magda Krance, spokeswoman of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, said of the procedure Tuesday. "He is resting comfortably."

The bad news is that the recovery period will keep him from conducting in back-to-back gala concerts with the Lyric, for which he is music director, and the PSO in September.

"He has come to the conclusion he will be unable to do our gala," confirmed Larry Tamburri, PSO president. "We are working hard to figure out what surprises we will be make available to our audience for that night."

But the concert, Sept. 15 at Heinz Hall, will still have a knight: flutist Sir James Galway. Galway will do a little conducting, as well as performing favorites and premiering a PSO commission by David Overton, "Galway Fair."

Sing, sing a song

Ever want to sing a major role in an opera? You now have a local opportunity: Undercroft Opera, founded by Mary Beth Sederburg of Squirrel Hill, is a new community opera company that seeks to "allow Pittsburgh area performers and students to perform leading roles from traditional operas in their home town."

Sederburg, a mezzo-soprano with numerous stage appearances and a masters of opera theater at Carnegie Mellon University, acted on a long-held disappointment she discovered in her travels. "I was finding in Pittsburgh and in large cities, people don't have the opportunity to sing lead roles. They can sing in choruses, but not leads."

The company recently staged Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" at Synod Hall and plans on doing another opera next summer, possibly Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffman." Singers can apply to audition by calling 412-422-7919.

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Correction/Clarification: (Published Aug. 23, 2006) In this Aug. 18, 2006 report an incorrect name and phone number were given for the new company founded by Mary Beth Sederburg. The Undercroft Opera can be reached at www.undercroftopera.com or 412-422-7919.