Opera watch.

1. When PLACIDO DOMINGO received the eleventh annual Ella award from the SOCIETY OF SINGERS, a Los Angeles-based organization devoted to helping singers in need, at their May 30 benefit gala, he was serenaded by Victor Trent-Cook, Thomas Young and Rodrick Dixon, the crossover trio billed as THREE MO'TENORS. Domingo's opera colleagues JULIA MIGENES and RODNEY GILFRY also performed at the gala, as did Broadway's KRISTIN CHENOWETH, pop diva PATTI AUSTIN and singing NYC police officer DANIEL RODRIGUEZ. Last year's Ella honoree, JULIE ANDREWS, was on hand to present the tenor with his award, which is named for its first recipient, Ella Fitzgerald.

2. MIREILLE DELUNSCH, whose recordings of Rameau (Dardanus) and Gluck (Iphigenie en Tauride, Armide) operas with Marc Minkowski have won her favorable notices in recent seasons, is currently Donna Elvira in Bordeaux (Sept. 27-Oct. 8). Her next Mozart assignment is Countess Almaviva in Geneva (Dec. 17-Jan. 14), followed by a recital of Schumann, Debussy and Lecocq songs at Opera de Lausanne (Jan. 16). The latest heroine on disc for the Mulhouse, France native is Kaethe in Ropartz's Le Pays (Timpani).

3. Among the 500 revelers gathered at Manhattan's Soho Grand Bar & Lounge on June 5 for the launch of Operatica: Shine was Albanian soprano INVA MULA, a featured soloist on the disc. Operatica: Shine, a mix of opera vocals and contemporary dance music (reviewed on page 98), is a bid for disco-diva status by Mula, who sings "Mon Amour," a pop gloss on ...