VOICES OF SUMMER.(opera concerts in Europe, calendars)

OPERA NEWS HIGHLIGHTS EUROPES TOP SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVALS

It's a truth universally recognized since Pan first treated his flocks to airs on the pipe: music and green grass are an unbeatable combination, especially if, like Pan, you can afford your own flocks to do the mowing.

Thus no doubt was born the first summer music festival in Europe. Unfortunately, the closest many of us will ever get to one is an evening in the backyard with a radio in one hand and a glass of iced tea in the other.

So what follows is a wish-list: a shopping catalogue for some, a series of beautiful dreams for the rest of us. In pavilions and gardens, theaters and arenas, famous artists and talented newcomers will favor Europe with a song, and if we can't be there to hear it, we can always imagine.

Almost every summer festival in Europe except Bayreuth pays tribute to an unjustly neglected composer in this, the centenary year of his death. Of course, we're talking about Giuseppe Verdi: no matter how much you heard this winter, you haven't heard the last of him yet.

Other notable productions include world premieres of Ofenbauer's SzenePenthesileaEin Traum(1999-2000) in Vienna, Hidalgo's Bacon 1561-1992 in Schwetzingen and Ringger's Luci di Prometeo in Lucerne; St. Petersburg unveils Gubaidulina's St. John Passion, Tan Duns St. Matthew Passion and Tsar Demyan, an opera by no fewer than five young composers.

Among the summer's busiest recitalists will be lan Bostridge, Angelika Kirchschlager and Matthias Goerne. Space limitations prevent our listing every production and performer. Many festivals feature instrumental concerts by major artists, but in most cases we have named only the best-known vocalists and conductors. All programs are subject to change; check the internet for updates.