OPERA WATCH.(Brief Article)

1. MELANIE DIENER, in residence at Bayreuth this month as Elsa von Brabant in Keith Warner's production of Lohengrin, interrupts her swan watch long enough for a single August 23 performance of Mahler's Second Symphony in Amsterdam, with RICCARDO CHAILLY and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The Mahler occupies the soprano for much of the fall, with appearances scheduled in Lucerne (September 5), Baden-Baden (September 6), Paris (October 24, 27) and Amsterdam (November 7, 8), plus a Decca recording session of the piece with Chailly. Diener, who made her Met debut last season as Fiordiligi, sings Elvira in Don Giovanni at Covent Garden in January and February before returning to New York next winter as the Met's Countess Almaviva (February/March). She will make her Manhattan recital debut on February 25, in the Art of the Song series at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater.

SUSAN GRAHAM has been awarded the distinction of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture and Communications, Catherine Tasca.... Lincoln Center's 2001 MARTIN E. SEGAL AWARDS were presented to the Borromeo String Quartet and to tenor ERIC CUTLER.... Peruvian tenor JUAN DIEGO FLOREZ has been signed to an exclusive Decca recording contract. His first solo disc, a collection of Rossini arias, is due out next month.

2. LUCIANO PAVAROTTI celebrated the fortieth anniversary of his career with a gala concert in April, at the Teatro Comunale in his hometown of Modena. Leone Magiera and Eugene Kohn shared conducting duties. Pavarotti's all-star guest list included ROBERTO ALAGNA and ANGELA GHEORGHIU; FABIO ARMILIATO; APRILE MILLO; IRINA MISHURA; CARMELA REMIGIO; RUGGERO RAIMONDI; RENATA SCOTTO; CAROL VANESS; DOLORA ZAJICK; ELENA ZAREMBA and JOSE CARRERAS. The other third of the Three Tenors, PLACIDO DOMINGO, had been scheduled to appear but canceled due to illness.

3. OPERA THEATRE OF SAINT LOUIS will present MINORU MIKI'S opera THE TALE OF GENJI in Japan next month. Opening night at the Nissay Theater, Tokyo, will be September 16, with additional performances on September 18 and 20. An adaptation of Lady Murasaki's novel, a classic of Japanese literature, Genii had its world-premiere run during OTSL's twenty-fifth anniversary season last summer. OTSL Genji veterans on board for Japan include conductor STEUART BEDFORD and principals ELIZABETH COMEAUX, Josefa Gayer, Cheryl Royce and Andrew Wentzel. Baritone Carleton Chambers, creator of the part of Prince Suzaku, graduates to the title role for the Tokyo performances. OTSL artistic director COLIN GRAHAM, who collaborated with Miki as librettist, will stage the Nissay Genji, which will be sung in English with Japanese surtitles.

4. The divo trio of Victor Trent Cook, Rodrick Dixon and ...