HIGHS KEEP COMING FOR FREDERICA VON STADE.

Byline: - David Mermelstein

Shortly before joining a rehearsal for Jacques Offenbach's ``The Grand Duchess,'' mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade relaxes at one of the Music Center's outdoor cafes, picking at a Caesar salad with finishing-school poise. She is simply dressed but chic and wearing sunglasses, her lapdog snoozing quietly at her feet. A casual observer not recognizing her might mistake her cool demeanor for divalike attitude.

But he would be wrong. The New Jersey-born von Stade, though an internationally famous opera star, has forged her acclaimed three-decades-long career on a foundation of sound artistic judgment and a no-nonsense work ethic that begins with her own exemplary behavior.

Garry Marshall, who is making his operatic debut directing ``The Grand Duchess,'' compares the mezzo to Julie Andrews, whom he worked with in ``The Princess Diaries'' movies. ``She gets along with everyone,'' he says of von Stade. ``Not a lady who causes any problems, and she lights up that stage when she goes on,'' he says, adding, ``I was much surprised by how good an actress she is.''

Two months ago, von Stade turned 60, a time when many opera singers consider new career options, but age doesn't seem to faze her. Indeed, in this production, she sings the highly sexed title character, not some maternal or grand-maternal character, as some might expect.

``Heck, if people are going to ask me, I'm going to accept,'' she says. ``It's sort of like wearing your daughter's prom dress.''

Beyond being the lead, her role in ``The Grand Duchess'' is a new one for von Stade, who has performed so many parts, she says she no longer keeps count. But even for a singer as game as von Stade is, age isn't entirely irrelevant.

``The biggest challenge is memory,'' she says, ``because everything they say is true. You have to start sooner and work longer at learning new roles. And stamina might also be a bit of a challenge.''

Von Stade, who last appeared in an L.A. Opera production eight years ago, has enjoyed many successes during her long career, but perhaps the most memorable have been the trouser roles of Cherubino, in Mozart's ``The Marriage of Figaro,'' and Octavian, in Strauss' ``Der Rosenkavalier.'' She sang both parts at L.A. Opera, the former in 1990, the latter in 1994.

Her association with the company also includes two Rossini operas, ``La Cenerentola'' (1987) and ``The Barber of Seville'' (1991), and Monteverdi's ``The Return of Ulysses''(1997), as well as three concert programs, one of which was a solo recital.

What the mezzo has not done locally is appear in an operatic premiere, as she has at the San Francisco Opera, in Conrad Susa's ``The Dangerous Liaisons'' (1994) and Jake Heggie's ``Dead Man Walking'' (2000). Her close association with Heggie continues with a new project, based on an unperformed play Terrence McNally wrote for the actress Julie Harris.

``It's one of the most touching, beautiful jewels of a piece,'' says von Stade. ``Stephen Schwartz has agreed to do the lyrics, and we're hoping it will be on Broadway. It won't be for the opera house.''

Von Stade is branching out in other ways, as well. At this year's Emmy telecast, on Sept. 18, the mezzo is scheduled to join William Shatner in singing the ``Star Trek'' theme.

Yet, traditional challenges still loom. In addition to the three-week run of ``The Grand Duchess,'' von Stade tackles another new role in the spring, that of Ottavia, Nero's wife, in Monteverdi's ``The Coronation of Poppea'' at Houston Grand Opera. And New York's Metropolitan Opera and Austria's Salzburg Festival have come a-calling, each asking von Stade to appear as the cheeky maid Despina in productions of Mozart's ``Cosi fan tutte.''

``I said yes, but with a dot-dot-dot,'' she says. ``Because I know that once my two girls have children, I'm going to be Nanny.''

Even then, don't go counting the singer out. She has long enjoyed great success as a recitalist, where her connection with audiences is palpable. Now teaming with other veteran opera stars, like soprano Kiri Te Kanawa and bass Samuel Ramey, von Stade calls these concerts ``senior golf tours'' and plans to continue them even after retiring from the opera stage.

More surprisingly, she says she intends to return to school and gain a degree in social services. ``I love working with nonprofit organizations, helping them raise money,'' she says. ``And I just want the challenge of going back to school. I want to see if my brain can handle it.''

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``The biggest challenge is memory, because everything they say is true: You have to start sooner and work longer at learning new roles,'' says Frederica von Stade, 60, of playing the lead in ``The Grand Duchess,'' a new role for the mezzo-soprano.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer