Ailing Domingo won’t sing

Placido Domingo is fighting a bronchial infection and will not sing as scheduled in Los Angeles Opera’s “Concert of Passion and Poetry,” next Saturday through Jan. 19 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Domingo, however, will conduct the final act of Verdi’s “Otello” in the three-part program, which also includes excerpts from Massenet’s “Werther,” and Monteverdi’s “Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda.”

Roberto Alagna, one of today’s ascendant young tenors, went on European television this week to say he was ready to step in for Domingo. Sources at L.A. Opera confirm that the company is seeking a visa for Alagna, who lives in Paris. If the visa comes through, he will sing Otello and the title role in Acts III and IV of “Werther.”

The January time slot has been star-crossed for L.A. Opera. It was supposed to present Luciano Berio’s new version of Monteverdi’s “The Coronation of Poppea” starting Jan. 11, but that opera was canceled when the Italian composer fell ill and couldn’t complete the score.

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Chris Pasles