Various links and photos

Chamber Orchestra benefits from Domingo's charisma

It was striking, too, to hear Domingo in such gorgeous form. There might have been a few worrisome moments...But to dwell on such thoughts would have been to miss the rare and almost miraculous combination of qualities that accounts for Domingo's charisma.

With a low-key but self-assured saunter, he moved about the stage in operatic excerpts from Massenet, Cilea, and Wagner - and later Lehár, Bernstein, and other light works.

He has that thing in his voice that makes listeners know he cares urgently for the music. To Cilea's "Lamento di Federico" from L'arlesiana he brought a good deal of pain. His sound shimmered with refinement and a cheery ardor in "Winterstürme" from Die Walküre, Wagner's love song to spring.

He was a judicious server of schmaltz in "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" from Lehár's Das Land des Lächelns, giving a loud twist of sound at the end that made the audience cheer. He knew it would do that, they knew he knew, and everyone was happy.

Plàcido to the Rescue

At 68, Domingo is well past a tenor's retirement age, but his voice still cast a bronze glow at the season debut February 6. The qualities that have always made his singing special, a rich middle register and melting legato, remain intact. His only concession to age was lowering some of the music to a more comfortable range.

The transpositions, perhaps a dozen in all, sounded jarring only to an ear intimately familiar with Francesco Cilea's sweet-scented score. The real loss was excitement in several dramatic moments. Just as the music was working itself up to a climax, the drop in key suddenly lowered the emotional temperature.

Placido Domingo wins $1M Nilsson Prize for opera

I'm sure he will spend it very wisely (I did read on Opera-L something about LA Opera's Ring being the beneficiary but I don't know if that's just speculation)

In July (1969), at the Arena di Verona in Italy, the two sang their first "Turandot" and Nilsson said she had caught tonsillitis after Domingo's lingering kiss at the finale, her foundation said Friday.

"It was worth it, in order to sing with Placido Domingo" she said, "for he was born not just with a stunning voice but also with the great, rare gift of musicality, which you either have or you don't, and was also a charming, fantastic person. And, yes, all the high notes were in place!"

Placido Domingo to perform at festival in Miaoli County

Taiwan, 21 March

Opera singer Placido Domingo and guest arrive at the 81st Annual Academy Awards held at Kodak Theatre on February 22, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.

Going to the Oscars with his son? He's slipping ;-)

 Singer Placido Domingo arrives at the 2009 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter held at the Sunset Tower on February 22, 2009 in West Hollywood, California.

I'd like to see him lose a little bit of weight and regrow the beard, not that his appearance is any of my business

The caption says he's with Pláci jr, but I think that's Alvaro

The previous evening was Los Angeles Opera's opening night of Das Rheingold, but I don't think even Mr AirMiles could have got from the Adriana Lecouvrer matinée finishing at 4.15 pm in New York for a 7.30pm start in LA!

Seasons of the Champion

Using his fourteen previous OPERA NEWS covers as an aide-mémoire, Plácido Domingo shares his thoughts about his first forty years at the Met.

    

Happy Anniversary: The Metropolitan Opera will mark its 125th year with a singular — and spectacular — gala performance.

On March 15, the Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 125th-anniversary year with a unique gala. James Levine will conduct the evening of twenty-six staged scenes...Planned highlights include Domingo in an aria from Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, with the staging and costumes evoking the Met's 1910 world premiere...Domingo will also revisit the final scenes from Otello and Parsifal (the latter with Thomas Hampson as Amfortas) and join Angela Gheorghiu for the father–daughter duet from Simon Boccanegra.