FREDERIC FRANKLIN, who turned 80 this past summer, continues to teach and choreograph after a long stage career. He is teaching for the Dance Theater of Harlem and in England, and he will also stage a work for the Cincinnati Ballet.
A former star of Ballet Russe, in 1963 he became director of the National Ballet of Washington, which failed in 1974. Since then he's been a teacher and coach, whose stops have included Ballet West.- PATRONS OF THE THREE TENORS are warned to beware when seeking recordings of the recent Los Angeles concert by Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras, on Atlantic label. Many record companies are piggybacking on the notoriety of the tenors' authentic recording to repackage older recordings of the three into similar, and often confusing, releases. Look out for RCA's "The Essential Three Tenors," with arias recorded as long ago as 1972.
Even before the July 16 concert, Sony Classical released "All-Star Tenors Salute the World Soccer Cup," depicting Dodger Stadium and the three tenors on the cover.
Philips has a similar "Three Tenors and More" album out, and Castle Records boasts a 3-CD "Three Tenors" set. Record pirates are also getting into the act. The Standing Room Only label, which specializes in pirate opera discs, has a photo of Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras in a chummy pose on its "Primi Tenori" album of arias recorded between 1969 and 1983.
Nimbus, a vocal connoisseurs' label, has put the most imaginative spin on the three-tenors mania. Its "Three Tenors" album replaces Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras with three arguably greater tenors of this century: Enrico Caruso, Tito Schipa and John McCormack, in recordings dating from 1904-37.
- THE ARTS HAVE LOST: Karl Donch, bass-baritone of the Metropolitan Opera, in Vienna, at 80. . . . Nelle Fisher, 79, versatile dancer and choreographer, in Edmonds, Wash., of Parkinson's disease. After dancing with Martha Graham she performed and choreographed on Broadway, ran Memphis Ballet in '60s and '70s.