The L.A. Opera is hoping that a few changes in title will spark renewed enthusiasm among its staff and patrons, even without anything much changing in the way of personnel. Placido Domingo, who has been top dog at the company for several years, will now be the ‘general director,’ and Kent Nagano goes from ‘principal conductor’ to ‘music director,’ a move designed to draw him closer to the day-to-day operations of the company. “In many respects, the [Domingo] promotion formalizes a shift in power that became apparent in late 2001, when the opera’s then-executive director, Ian White-Thomson — nominally Domingo’s equal in the company hierarchy — abruptly resigned, complaining that the tenor’s frequent travel made collaboration impossible.”