says Plácido Domingo blithely, and smiles when I stare at him open-mouthed with surprise. Plácido Domingo, the greatest, most versatile, most-gonged singer of all time...
'I started as a high baritone and I had to work hard at being a tenor. How lucky my colleagues are, those who only have to open their mouths and have everything already in place. No, I always had to work at my singing.'
Aha, that explains it. After all, Domingo's motto is 'if I rest, I rust' and his constant need to work, to improve and to keep learning is legendary. If he had been born a natural tenor with all the notes easily in place, he'd probably have trained himself to be something else, just for the challenge. A quantum physicist, perhaps. Or a soprano.
Fortunately for music lovers everywhere that wasn't the case and he became the tenor we know and love - a tenor blessed with a dark, rich, heroic voice, clarion-clear top notes, a great stage technique, Herculean stamina and good looks to boot. He's had one of the longest and most varied singing careers in the history of opera, with 122 roles to his credit, and now also enjoys a parallel career as a conductor. In addition to this, he is the artistic* director of two major American opera companies. Last year this magazine hailed Domingo as the world's Number One tenor; now the Classical BRITs is celebrating him too, with their first-ever Classical BRITs Lifetime Achievement Award.
So there was plenty to talk about when I met Domingo in Vienna earlier this year. The first thing that you notice about him as he enters the room is his air of quiet authority. The second is his charm. My first question, for example, was about the Classical BRITs. Is he pleased to be receiving the award? 'I'm delighted. It's a great honour,' he purrs. And is he fan of ClassicFM Magazine, which plays a significant role in the ceremony? 'Of course. It's a very prestigious publication and the consideration it's shown to me is wonderful. I'm happy to get the recognition of experts, but I'm also happy that the general public is following what I do.' Ah, the legendary Domingo charm! I want to eat it up like chocolate.
Usually Lifetime Achievement awards are given when the recipient's achievements are firmly in the past, but that's certainly not the case here and during our talk Domingo is keen to stress the new roles and fresh challenges that lie ahead of him. Four days after the 65-year-old tenor receives his award, he sings the delightful but little-known opera Cyrano de Bergerac, by Franco Alfano, in its premiere at the Royal Opera House. A month later he'll be in Tokyo as Siegmund in Wagner's Die Walküre, the punishing role with which he made his sensational Proms debut last year. After that he performs in the zarzuela (Spanish operetta) Luisa Fernanda in Madrid. That's all combined with his operatic administrative duties and his conducting schedule. And, as if that wasn't enough, he also has a new disc of Neapolitan songs coming out, Italia, ti amo, for which he had to learn the difficult Neapolitan dialect. 'If I rest, I rust' indeed!
No signs of rust yet, at any rate. Domingo is looking beautifully well-groomed in an expensive dark suit and silk tie, and I can't help thinking he looks even fitter than when I last saw him. Has he lost weight? 'Yes, I have,' he says, not unpleased, I think, I've noticed. 'I've lost 20 pounds. And I'm working out, too.' Why? 'A singer has to be healthy. It's vital. So I decided I wanted to eat more carefully. And you shouldn't work your body too hard by being overweight. The only problem is, I have to buy an entire new wardrobe. At least now I can buy off the shelf - I don't have to get everything ordered.'
So resting on his laurels is not an option for the tenor; the Lifetime Achievement Award makes him want to look forward, not back. But over so long a career can he pick some highlights? 'What can I tell you? It's been 50 years of highlights. When you sing in a new venue for the first time, that's always a thrill. Maybe my first Otello in La Scala, with Mirella Freni and Carlos Kleiber conducting...that was certainly a highlight.' And is there a a reason his career has lasted so long? 'The most important thing is to have vocal and physical rest for every performance. Sometimes I have two or three days of total quietness before singing. And I keep healthy and try to eat well. It's as bad to have indigestion as to have a cold or sore throat.'
Does he ever think about retiring? 'Well, the years are passing and I know that one day I won't be singing any more. But when that happens I plan to dedicate my artistic time to conducting. And I still have two important jobs to do in the opera houses of Washington and Los Angeles.'
On the strength of his latest disc, Italia, ti amo**, the day he gives up singing is a long way off; Domingo is on superb form. Perhaps because the challenge of learning the Neapolitan dialect spurred him on. "The vowels are never clear in Neapolitan,' he says, so core ingrato ('ungrateful heart') should actually sound like "cowray ingraeatuwo". But more than that, you still have to present the deep, spontaneous, dramatic feeling of these songs, which are like mini operas. You cry because you're leaving Naples, you cry because you see Naples - you always have an excuse to make a little drama!' The disc also includes a song written by his son, Plácido Junior. 'He wrote it for my wife and I, for our 40th wedding anniversary - it's a very beautiful song, with a good melody. I'm so happy with it.'
He has every reason to be happy. A new disc coming out, more debuts to make, fresh challenges ahead...it sounds like Plácido Domingo's Lifetime Achievements are only just beginning.
written by Warwick Thompson in July's ClassicFM magazine
* General Director
** hmm, Parsifal and Edgar are more recent that Italia, ti amo
