OPERA BLEAK AS A RUSSIAN WINTER.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

Bloated and misbegotten, ``Nicholas and Alexandra,'' the first opera commissioned exclusively by the Los Angeles Opera, had its premiere Sunday. Composed by Deborah Drattell, with a libretto by journalist Nicholas von Hoffman, the work proved an excruciating exercise in musical and literary banality, an odd turn of events given the drama inherent in the source material, the love story and tragic end of Russia's last royal couple, executed with their children in 1918.

The production, listlessly and sometimes confusingly directed by Ann Bogart, lasted nearly three hours, with intermission. And during that time, nothing lifted the torpor that descended over this opera like so much Russian Orthodox incense. In the pit, conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, better-known as a distinguished cellist, led the orchestra as though he were conducting a dirge. But it hardly mattered. Drattell's baffling pastiche of a score sometimes sounded like a bad imitation of a Maurice Jarre film score and more than occasionally suggested court music from 16th-century Spain. Intentionally or otherwise, it rarely conveyed a ``Russian'' sound. Its few motifs were undistinguished: woodwind arpeggios, brass fanfares, harp glissandos, tremulous strings and, for those really important moments, drum bursts.

It's probably worth noting that with this production, tenor Placido Domingo, the company's general director, added a 120th role to his vast repertory. As Rasputin, the ``mad monk'' who inadvertently helped topple the Romanov dynasty, Domingo emerges fairly unscathed, though he was said to be suffering from a vocal ailment opening night. Amazingly, even the Teflon tenor, fully and convincingly transformed into Rasputin, can't impart life to this jumble, and the scenes of the mad monk's storied murder and the orgies he supposedly organized fall as flat as Robert Israel's boring two-dimensional sets.

Perhaps never in history have title characters been as bland as this opera's Nicholas and Alexandra. Yet one can hardly fault soprano Nancy Gustafson for the nearly nonexistent role of Alexandra. And though it is practically meaningless to say so, she sings the part well. Baritone Rodney Gilfry fares better as Nicholas, at least portraying the ineffectual monarch faithfully, as the stiff he was in life. The supporting roles don't offer much, but two L.A. Opera stalwarts, Michael Gallup and Suzanna Guzman, make a positive impression as Nicholas' parents, Alexander III and Empress Maria.

Sapping the tension further, director Bogart uses her own dance company to shadow the opera's limited action. Her dancers strike pretentious poses and impart little. They are, however, the most interesting-looking people on the stage, for Catherine Zuber has dressed them in sharp, ``Matrix''- like outfits. The rest of the cast, unfortunately, is so blandly attired that it's often tough to distinguish Alexandra from her ladies-in-waiting.

The opera's dramatic arc, such as it is, doesn't help matters. Drattell and von Hoffman open and close the work with the royal family's Siberian imprisonment, so no surprise about how things conclude. That would be OK if the ``flashbacks'' offered real contrast, but those scenes are as murky and lifeless as the framing device.

What this production lacks is the sort of lavish treatment that a company based so close to Hollywood should have no trouble managing. Nothing can salvage Drattell and von Hoffman's feeble opera, but a little pomp and circumstance couldn't hurt.

NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA - One star

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

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Sept. 23 and 26; 2:00 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets: $25 to $170. Call [phone].

In a nutshell: Even Placido Domingo as Rasputin and Mstislav Rostropovich in the pit can't save this dreary take on Russia's last royal couple.