Scoredesk asks Who's that guy with Domingo?
Finally, after the dross and muck came pure gold. Placido Domingo sang Panic Angelicus and miraculously the problems with the sound were fixed. He was magnificent and Pope Benedict seemed to really enjoy it. He even got up and went over to Placido who was really emotional when he knelt to kiss the Holy Father's hand.
There was a nice moment at the close of the post-communion meditation. My beloved Placido D sang Panis Angelicus. That rascally group in the mid-level bleachers started to applaud; I was shaking my head in embarrassment, especially as the applause started to spread. But then the Pope himself stood and went to embrace Domingo and --be still my heart!-- the maestro knelt and kissed the Pope's ring. Maybe opera stars just have a knack for dramatic gestures, but it seemed to me that in kneeling Domingo did a wonderful thing --he put his singing back at the level of service to the Pope and ultimately to Christ in the Mass.
if I were to complain about anything, it would be the fact that Placido Domingo unavoidably upstaged the Pope himself with his rendition of Panis Angelicus. Of course, I am just kidding. It was operatic, but thoroughly appropriate for the occasion
These are excepts from the blogs that are fit to excerpt. It was singularly soul-destroying reading through so many others that managed to combine scary hysteria, faux piety and a rabid hatred that women and hispanic and black people were permitted to participate in a Mass which, apparently, ought to have been a celebration of American culture, not immigration. I usually manage to stay blissfully ignorant of the nasty underbelly of the internet, then something happens to reveal the blogs that are written by the rednecks and the haters (in this instance who happen also to call themselves Christians. Delightful).
