'Emperor' stands tall (no crouching or hiding)
Plácido on what films influenced him
Weit weg vom Ruhestand: Placido Domingo - von Wagner bis zur Zarzuela
and a posting to ParlourofOperaLovers from Eric
Last night I was pleasantly surprised to see Ageless on the Conan O'Brien Show. Conan introduced the tenor as "One of the greatest opera singers of our time...no...One of the greatest opera singers of all time!". Placido's official reason to appear was to promote "The First Emperor", which I thought was quite significant, considering that, though I'd seen Ageless and other singers on late night comedy shows before, I'd never seen them officially promoting an OPERA. It was repeatedly pointed out that the show was already sold out, though the simulcasts were also plugged.
But Placido made quite an effort to plug opera as an art form, claiming several times that "Opera is getting bigger all the time", and saying that it was important that people knew what it was. Domingo was the featured guest, and stayed for two full segments. I only wish they'd had him sing....
and from alt.fan.conan-obrien
He could have been named Turbulendo. They're filming an opera so that people who aren't up to the night-at-the-opera performance might be able to see it, except there's no tickets. Opera singers actually know how to sing; Conan's voice is trapped in the top of his throat. Placido offers Conan advice in speaking. ``That sounds very Irish, yes.''
Women ask Placido to sign their bodies, often arms. He doesn't think you can sign other parts; Conan thinks he's missing the point. He has the world's record for 101 curtain calls. Placido doesn't know why it went on so long, and he finally just went and sat in the orchestra pit and asked the audience to leave. He now cuts audiences off around fifty.
Conan hasn't had a Muppet made of him? You'd think he'd be a natural. Placido Flamingo I haven't seen, but I haven't followed the Muppets closely in recent years. The Muppet tried teaching Placido how to sing.
Asking whether it's easier to perform in a large or a small crowd is a good question. I'm not surprised the larger crowds can be easier to play for.
