'THE TROUSER ROLES' VIVICA GENAUX DOESN'T SKIRT THE ISSUE ON PLUM OPERA PARTS.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Music Writer

Mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux is about to step into another pair of trousers.

Getting to pass herself off as a man comes with the Baroque territory, she says. And reviving these centuries-old roles happens to be a specialty she's known for worldwide.

She's also a leading exponent of the bel canto repertoire and has a celebrated recording career. In 2002, her critically acclaimed ``Arias for Farinelli'' was nominated for a Grammy Award. The New York Times praised her ``ability to negotiate a fiendishly difficult bout of vocal fireworks accurately, on pitch and with a sense of enjoyment rather than abject terror.'' Britain's Daily Telegraph, meanwhile, hailed that ``the hair- raising roulades, trills and enormously wide leaps hold no terrors.''

In September, she released the follow-up ``Bel Canto Arias'' for Virgin Classics. Her discography is expected to grow right alongside her 23 opera roles, 16 of which have been male.

``When you play the trouser roles, it's a whole other dimension of empowerment,'' says Genaux, who at 34 makes her debut with the Los Angeles Opera as the lead in ``Orfeo ed Euridice,'' which opened Saturday.

In this production, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion through Dec. 21, the audience follows Orfeo on a mythological journey to hell and back to retrieve his beloved Euridice, played by soprano Maria Bayo. More on that later.

Right now, Genaux is talking about how she came to take on roles that centuries before were written for castrati - during the 17th and 18th centuries, boys with vocal promise were castrated and given extensive coaching.

The high-pitched voice was considered the most beautiful of its time, and it was used only for the most virtuous of roles. (At the time, women were excluded from performing.)

``We, fortunately or unfortunately, as the case may be,'' Genaux says, ``no longer have castrati, and so the tradition then turned toward the woman contralto or alto taking over those parts if these roles were to be repeated.''

In modern times, there is a renewed interest in Baroque work. Christopher Koelsch, associate director of artistic operations with the L.A. Opera, calls it a ``renaissance.''

As for Genaux, she is benefiting from the sudden interest that people are taking in the centuries-old repertoire.

She recalls how during the late '90s, before taking on one of her first male roles as the heroic Hassem in Donizetti's ``Alahor in Granata,'' she did some heavy-duty research into gender-bending.

How so?

``I would watch guys,'' Genaux says with a laugh, explaining how, when in Seville, Spain, she observed their interactions with lovers, family and even male friends. ``The physical language they have there is much broader than what I see here in the States. They're not so threatened by their sexuality.

``They're more open about hugging another man, for example, without being like, 'Oh, we better do the football hug thing so nobody thinks we're gay,' '' she says as she laughs.

Genaux should be familiar with American men as well as anyone. She comes from Alaska, where she lived with her Swiss father and Mexican mother until going off to Italy for music studies.

It's here that she also met and married her Italian husband. While he waits for her back home in Motta di Livenza, Italy, Genaux resumes a schedule that carries her into the new year, beginning with the Orfeo.

Christoph Willabald Gluck's 18th-century opera was a reaction to the over-ornamentation of the Baroque period. His stripped-down version's focus was on music and the poetry.

The Orfeo legend, itself, has been reinterpreted many times.

Even conductor Walter Althammer has shared with the cast a version that was recently performed for German audiences.

Hearing about it made Genaux's skin crawl.

``It's creepy,'' she says. ``Because Orfeo is known for his beautiful voice and his ability to tame wild animals ... his art increases through his grief. So when you get to the point where he is told not to look at Euridice, he's tempted to look at her because it will enhance him.''

In the Los Angeles version, the story follows the original more closely.

Koelsch says the central idea of the production is that it's playing out in the mind of Orfeo.

``It's meant to be a fever dream,'' he says. ``It's an internalized grieving process ... there are themes of loss and redemption. It's quite a minimalist production.''

Sandra Barrera, [phone]

sandra.barrera(at)dailynews.com

ORFEO ED EURIDICE

Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Dec. 10, 13 and 19; 2 p.m. Dec. 6 and 21.

Tickets: $30 to $170. [phone] or www.ticketmaster.com.

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Operatic mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux isn't afraid to wear the pants on stage. ``It's a whole other dimension of empowerment,'' she says of the roles originally written for male castrati.