Everything about Pl Cido Domingo totally explained
José Plácido Domingo Embil KBE (born
January 21,
1941), better known as
Plácido Domingo, is a world-renowned
operatic
tenor, known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range. He is considered to be a talented and hard working musician: in March of 2008, he debuted in his 126th on-stage role. In addition to the 126 roles in his official repertoire, he's also recorded four others, giving Domingo more roles than any other active tenor. He is also admired for his acting ability, his musicality and musical intellect, and the number and variety of opera roles that he's mastered. In addition to his singing roles, he's also taken on
conducting opera and concert performances, as well as serving as the General Director of the
Washington National Opera in
Washington, D.C. and the
Los Angeles Opera in California. His contracts in both
Los Angeles and
Washington, D.C. have been extended through the 2010–2011 season.
Biography and career
Early years
Plácido Domingo was born near the Barrio de Salamanca section of
Madrid,
Spain, and moved to
Mexico at age eight with his family, who ran a
zarzuela company. Domingo was often asked to perform with his parents' company when they needed a child role. He studied piano at first privately and later at the National Conservatory of Music in
Mexico City.
In 1957, Domingo made his first professional appearance performing with his mother in a concert at
Mérida, Yucatán. At that time, he was working with his parents' zarzuela company, taking parts in
baritone roles and as an accompanist for other singers. Among his first performances was a minor role in the first Mexican production of
My Fair Lady where he was also the assistant conductor and assistant coach. The company made 185 performances which included a production of
Lehár's
The Merry Widow where he performed as either Camille or Danilo.
In 1959, Domingo auditioned for the
Mexico National Opera as a baritone but was then asked to sight-read some arias and lines in the
tenor range. Finally he was accepted in the National Opera as a tenor comprimario and as a tutor for other singers. He provided backup vocals for
Los Black Jeans in 1958, a rock-and-roll band lead by
César Costa. He learned
piano and
conducting, but made his stage debut acting in a minor role in 1959 (May 12) at the Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara as Pascual in
Marina. It was followed by Borsa in
Rigoletto (with
Cornell MacNeil and
Norman Treigle also in the cast), Padre Confessor (
Dialogues of the Carmelites) and others.
In addition, he played piano for a ballet company to supplement his income. Domingo also played piano for a program on Mexico cultural television which was newly founded at that time. The program consisted of excerpts from zarzuelas,
operettas, operas, and musical comedies. He acted in a few small parts while at the theater in such plays by
Federico García Lorca,
Luigi Pirandello, and
Anton Chekhov.
1960s - 1980s
In 1961, he made his operatic debut in a leading role as Alfredo in
La traviata at
Monterrey and later in the same year, his debut in the
United States with the
Dallas Civic Opera where he played the role of Arturo in
Donizetti's
Lucia di Lammermoor opposite
Joan Sutherland as the title role. In 1962, he returned to play the role of Edgardo in the same opera with
Lily Pons. At the end of 1962, he signed a six month contract with the Israel National Opera in
Tel Aviv but later extended the contract and stay for two and a half years, singing 280 performances of 12 different roles.
In June 1965, after finishing his contract with Hebrew National Opera, Domingo went for an audition at the
New York City Opera and scheduled to make his
New York debut as Don Jose in
Bizet's
Carmen but his debut came earlier when he was offered to fill in for an ailing tenor at the last minute in
Puccini's
Madama Butterfly. On
June 17, 1965, Domingo made his New York debut as B F Pinkerton at the New York City Opera. In February 1966, he sang the title role in the US premiere of
Ginastera's
Don Rodrigo at the
New York City Opera, with much acclaim. The performance also marked the opening of the City Opera's new home at
Lincoln Center.
He official debut at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York occurred on
September 28,
1968 when he substituted for
Franco Corelli, in
Cilea's
Adriana Lecouvreur singing with
Renata Tebaldi. Before
Adriana Lecouvreur, he'd sung in performances by the Metropolitan Opera of
Mascagni's
Cavalleria Rusticana and
Leoncavallo's
Pagliacci in 1966. Since then, he's opened the season at the Metropolitan Opera 21 times, surpassing the previous record of
Enrico Caruso by four. He made his debut at the
Vienna State Opera in 1967, at the
Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1968, at both
La Scala and
San Francisco Opera in 1969, and at
Covent Garden in 1971, and has now sung at practically every other important
opera house and festival worldwide. In 1971, he played the role Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini's
Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera and continued with the same role for many times. He has played this role more than any other tenor.
Throughout the years, Domingo has also turned his hand to
conducting opera (as early as
La traviata on
October 7,
1973, at
New York City Opera) as well as, occasionally, symphonic orchestras. In 1981 Domingo gained considerable recognition outside of the opera world when he recorded the song "Perhaps Love" as a duet with the late
American country/
folk music singer
John Denver. In 1987, he and Denver joined
Julie Andrews for an
Emmy Award winning holiday television special,
The Sound of Christmas, filmed in
Salzburg,
Austria.
On
September 19,
1985, the
biggest earthquake in Mexico's history devastated the whole Mexican capital. Domingo's aunt, uncle, his nephew and his nephew's young son were killed in the collapse of the Nuevo León apartment block in the
Tlatelolco housing complex. Domingo himself labored to rescue survivors. During the next year, he did
benefit concerts for the victims and released an album of one of the events.
1990s - present
Throughout 1990s until today, Domingo continued performing in many of the same but also new operas, among them
Wagner's
Parsifal and
Mozart's
Idomeneo as the title role,
Rossini's
Il barbiere di Siviglia as Figaro, Wagner's
Die Walküre as Siegmund,
Lehár's
The Merry Widow as Danilo and
Alfano's
Cyrano de Bergerac as Cyrano. Between the middle of 1990 to the early of 2008 only, he's added 38 new roles into his repertoire covering opera in six different languages (English, Italian, French, German, Russian and Spanish). The latest was the Italian opera by
George Frideric Handel,
Tamerlano.
Also see: Domingo's complete repertoire.
Giving him even greater international recognition outside of the world of opera, he participated in
The Three Tenors concert at the opening of the
1990 World Cup in
Rome with
José Carreras and
Luciano Pavarotti. The event was originally conceived to raise money for the José Carreras International Leukemia Foundation and was later repeated a number of times, including at the three subsequent World Cup finals (
1994 in Los Angeles,
1998 in
Paris, and
2002 in
Yokohama). Alone, Domingo again made an appearance at the final of the
2006 World Cup in
Berlin.
He holds a world record for the longest ovation on the operatic stage with 101 curtain calls and 80 minutes non-stop applause after performing
Otello, Verdi's operatic version of
Shakespeare's
Othello, as the Moor of Venice in
Vienna on
July 30,
1991. In 2006, Domingo recorded an album
Italia Ti amo, dedicated himself to
Neapolitan and
Italian songs, which include Stanislao Gastaldon's "Musica Prohibita" and the famous "Core N’Grato" by
Salvatore Cardillo accompanied by Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Eugene Kohn.
In what has been called his 'final career move', Placido Domingo announced on
January 25,
2007 that in 2009 he'd switch ranges to
baritone by taking on one of
Verdi's most demanding baritone roles, as the
Doge of Genoa,
Simon Boccanegra, in the opera of the same name.
On 16-
17 April 2008 he sang during the visit of the
Pope Benedict XVI at
Nationals Park and at the Italian embassy in
Washington DC.
From 1990 to 2008, Domingo has received many awards and honors for his effort in music, benefit concerts and charity. On
August 21,
2007, in Mexico City, a two meters tall statue and weighs about 300 kg (660 lbs) was build in his honor. On
March 23,
2008, the New Orleans City Council honors his contribution at the Gala Benefits Concert by naming the city theatre's stage, the "Plácido Domingo stage". On April 2008, he was voted as the greatest tenor in
BBC Music Magazine judged by 16 renowned opera critics. For more awards, honors and the details, see
Plácido Domingo awards and honors and
Plácido Domingo humanitarian works and initiatives.
Family
He was born to Plácido Domingo Ferrer (
March 8,
1907 -
November 26,
1987) and Pepita Embil (
1918 -
September 1,
1994), two
Spanish zarzuela stars who nurtured his early musical abilities. Domingo's father is half
Catalan and half
Aragonese while his mother is a
Basque. His father, Plácido Domingo Ferrer was a
violinist performing for
opera and
zarzuela orchestra. He was a baritone and actively taking roles in zarzuela. However his promising career as a baritone ended after he damaged his voice by singing with a cold. Domingo's mother was an established singer who made her zarzuela debut at the
Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. She met her husband at age 21 while performing in
Federico Moreno Torroba's
Sor Navarra. In 1946 Moreno Torroba and Domingo's parents formed a zarzuela company and travelled frequently to Mexico. His parents later stayed permanently in Mexico and established their own zarzuela troupe, the Domingo-Embil Company. In addition to their son, they also have a daughter, Mari Pepa Sanchez.
At age 16 in 1958, Plácido Domingo married a fellow piano student, and his first son, José Dominguez was born within the year. However, the marriage didn't last long, the couple separated shortly thereafter. In 1962, Plácido Domingo married Marta Ornelas, a lyric
soprano whom he met during his conservatory days. In the same year, Marta had been voted "Mexican Singer of the Year" but she gave up her promising career to devote her time to her family. They have two sons, Plácido Jr born in 1965 and Alvaro Maurizio born in 1968.
Recordings
He has made well over 100
recordings, most of which are full-length operas, often recording the same role more than once. Among these recordings is a boxed set of every tenor aria
Verdi ever wrote, including several rarely-performed versions, in different languages from the original operas, which Verdi wrote for specific performances.
In August 2005, EMI Classics released a
New studio recording
of
Richard Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde in which Domingo sings the title role of Tristan. A review of this recording, headlined "Vocal perfections", that appeared in the
August 8,
2005 issue of
The Economist begins with the word "Monumental" and ends with the words, "a musical lyricism and a sexual passion that make the cost and the effort entirely worthwhile". It characterized his July 2005 performance of Siegmund in Wagner's
Die Walküre at Covent Garden as "unforgettable" and "luminous". The review also remarks that Domingo is still taking on roles that he hasn't previously performed.
New recordings that have been released in the first half of 2006 include studio recordings of
Puccini's
Edgar,
Isaac Albéniz's
Pepita Jiménez, as well as a selection of Italian and
Neapolitan songs, titled
Italia ti amo (all three with Deutsche Grammophon). Amongst many television appearance in many countries over the years (a large number for charitable purposes), Domingo appeared as the star act in the
New Orleans Opera Association's
A Night For New Orleans with
Frederica von Stade and
Elizabeth Futral, in March 2006. The concert was to raise funds for the rebuilding of the city.
Appearances on film and television
» See
List of Domingo's opera recorded performances
Domingo has appeared in numerous opera
films, among them are
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's
Madama Butterfly,
Francesco Rosi's
Carmen (
Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording), Gianfranco de Bosio's
Tosca with
Raina Kabaivanska,
Brian Large's
Tosca with
Catherine Malfitano (
Emmy Award),
Franco Zeffirelli's
Otello,
Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci, and
La traviata (with
Teresa Stratas, which received a
Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording).
He has also appeared on television in the 1978 La Scala production of Puccini's
Manon Lescaut which marked the Scala debut of Hungarian soprano
Sylvia Sass, as well in
zarzuela evenings, and
Live at the Met telecasts and broadcasts. In 2007, Domingo had a cameo in "
The Homer of Seville", an episode of
The Simpsons which revolves around
Homer Simpson becoming an opera singer. In his cameo, Domingo sang briefly. Domingo appeared on
The Cosby Show Season 5 as Alberto Santiago, a colleague of Dr Cliff Huxtable. He is also sang as the operatic moon in 2001 film
Moulin Rouge!.
He is the executive producer of the critically acclaimed 1998
Mexican film,
The Other Conquest, produced by his son Alvaro, in which Domingo also performs the original aria "Mater Aeterna", composed by Samuel Zyman.
Christmas in Vienna
In 1990, the idea for a
Christmas-themed concert, involving the collaboration of Domingo, fellow operatic tenor and friend
José Carreras, and pop music legend
Diana Ross was first brought up. Then in 1992,
Vienna was chosen to host the event due to its international reputation as the capital of music and the particular charm of Austria during Christmas time. The world-famous
Wiener Symphoniker under the direction of maestro Vjekoslav Šutej provided the orchestral music, and the Gumpoldskirchen Children's Choir provided choral vocals. On
December 23,
1992 the first in what would turn out to be a series of
Christmas in Vienna concerts was held.
The first Christmas concert proved to be a rousing success, being seen worldwide by several hundred million people. Plácido Domingo returned to Vienna for many more equally successful
Christmas in Vienna concerts, performing with many of music's greatest luminaries and his friends from the music industry, such as
Dionne Warwick,
Charles Aznavour,
Sissel Kyrkjebø,
Sarah Brightman,
Riccardo Cocciante,
Patricia Kaas,
Luciano Pavarotti,
Tony Bennett, and many others.
Complete repertoire
Perhaps the most versatile of all living tenors, Domingo has sung 126 roles on stage and as many as 130 roles (when also counting studio recorded roles) in six different languages, ranging from
Mozart to
Ginastera. His main repertoire however is
Italian (
Otello, Cavaradossi in
Tosca,
Don Carlo, Des Grieux in
Manon Lescaut, Dick Johnson in
La fanciulla del West, Radames in
Aida),
French (
Faust,
Werther, Don José in
Carmen, Samson in
Samson et Dalila), and
German (
Lohengrin,
Parsifal, and Siegmund in
Die Walküre). He continues to add more operas to his repertoire, the latest was
Handel's
Tamerlano as "Bajazet" on
March 26,
2008 at
Teatro Real.
Awards and honors
Domingo has received numerous awards and honors, including:
Grammy Award
- 1971 - Principal Soloist for Best Opera Recording for Verdi: Aida
- 1974 - Principal Soloist for Best Opera Recording for G. Puccini: La bohème
- 1983 - Principal Soloist for Best Opera Recording for Verdi: La Traviata
- 1984 - Principal Soloist for Best Opera Recording for Bizet: Carmen
- 1984 - Best Latin Pop Performance for Always in my Heart (Siempre en mi corazon)
- 1988 - Principal Soloist for Best Opera Recording for Wagner: Lohengrin
- 1990 - Best Classical Vocal Performance for Carreras-Domingo-Pavarotti in Concert
- 1992 - Principal Soloist for Best Opera Recording for Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten
- 2000 - Best Mexican-American Performance for 100 years of Mariachi
Latin Grammy Award
2000 - Best Classical Album for T. Breton: La Dolores
2001 - Best Classical Album for I. Albéniz: Merlin
Government and organization honors
France
Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur
Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur
Commandeur Arts et Lettres
Grande Medaille de la Ville de Paris
Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur – March 2002
Spain
Isabel la Católica
Premio Prinicipe de Asturias de las Artes - 1991
Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil – September 2002
USA
Kennedy Center Honors – December 2000
The presidential Medal of Freedom – July 2002
Austria
Österreichisches Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst 1. Klasse
Kammersänger und Ehrenmitglied der Wiener Staatsoper
Goldenes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um das Land Wien – 2007
Other countries
Aguila Azteca (Mexico)
Capo dell’Ordine "Al Merito della Repubblica Italiana" Grande Ufficiale (Italy)
Grã Cruz da Ordem do Infante d’Henrique (Portugal)
Cavalliere di Malta (Malta)
Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) (Great Britain) – October 2002
Order of the Cedars (Lebanon) - 2004
NPO
Unicef Socio de Honor (UNICEF)
Honorary Doctorate
Royal Northern College of Music, England (1982)
Philadelphia College of Performing Arts, USA (1982)
Oklahoma City University, USA (1984)
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain (1989)
New York University, USA (1990)
Georgetown University, USA (1992)
Washington College of Chestertown, USA (2000)
Anáhuac University, Mexico (2001)
Chopin Music Academy, Poland (2003)
Oxford University, England (2003)
Other entertainment awards and appreciation
A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – 1993 (Location: Domingo, Placido LT 7000 Hollywood Blvd)
Sociedad General de Autores Española (Best Lyric Singer of the Year 1997) for his role in the world premiere of "Divinas Palabras" - 1997
Association of Argentinian Music Critics (Best Male Singer in 1997) for “Samson and Dalila" - 1997
Baltika Grand Prix for Outstanding Achievement - June 1998
American Latina Media Arts (ALMA) Awards (Outstanding Performances By An Individual or Act in A Variety) - 1998
Hispanic Heritage Award for Arts - September 1999
Great Prize of the International Music Press - September 2000
The Ella Award - 2002
Classical BRIT Awards - 2006 (Critics' Award for Tristan and Isolde and Lifetime Achievement Award)
Domingo was named "The King of singers" in BBC Music Magazine for April 2008 issue. He was voted as the greatest tenor by 16 renowned opera critics in a quest to find the world top 20 operatic tenors. The headline of the page stated "The king of the singers – The critics number 1 choice. Domingo is that rarest vocal phenomena, a tenor who uses his voice in the service of re-creating great art, and not as a thrilling end in itself."
Humanitarian works and initiatives
On March 4, 2006, Domingo sang at the Gala Benefit Concert, "A Night For New Orleans" at the New Orleans Arena to help rebuilding the city after it was hit by Hurricane Katrina. At the gala, he made a statement, "If music be the food of love", is "MUSIC IS THE VOICE OF HOPE!" . On March 23, 2008, the New Orleans City Council named the city theatre's stage in the Mahalia Jackson Theatre in Louis Armstrong Park, the "Plácido Domingo stage" as the honour for his contribution at the Gala Benefits Concert. The Gala collected $700,000 for the city recovery fund. .
In 1986, he performed at benefit concerts to raise funds for the victims of 1985 Mexico City earthquake and released an album of one of the events. On August 21, 2007, as recognition to his support to 1985 Mexico City earthquake victims as well as his artistic works, a statue in his honor, made in Mexico City from keys donated by the people, was unveiled. The statue is the work of Alejandra Zúñiga, is two meters tall, weighs about 300 kg (660 lbs) and is part of the "Grandes valores" (Great values) program.
Domingo supports the Hear the World initiative as an ambassador to raise awareness for the topic of hearing and hearing loss.
In 1993 he founded Operalia, an international opera competition for talented young singers. The winners get the opportunities of being employed in opera ensembles around the world. Domingo has been instrumental in giving many young artists encouragement, (and special attention) as in 2001, when he invited New York tenor, Daniel Rodriguez to attend the Vilar/Domingo Young Artists program to further develop his operatic skills.
On December 21, 2003, Domingo made a performance in Cancún to benefit the Ciudad de la Alegria Foundation, the foundation that provides assistance and lodging to people in need, including low-income individuals, orphans, expectant mothers, immigrants, rehabilitated legal offenders, and the terminally ill.
On June 27, 2007, Domingo and Katherine Jenkins performed in a charity concert in Athens to raise funds to aid the conflict in Darfur. The concert was organized by Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders.
In October 2, 2007, Domingo joins several other preeminent figures in entertainment, government, the environment and more, as the one of receivers of the BMW Hydrogen 7, designed in the mission to build support of hydrogen as a viable substitute to fossil fuels.Further Information
Get more info on 'Pl Cido Domingo'.
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