Placido Domingo
Placido Domingo was born in Madrid in 1941. His parents, who were singers in a zarzuela troop, emigrated with him in 1949 to Mexico. After studying singing, conducting and piano at the Conservatory of Music in Mexico City, he made his debut in Monterrey in the role of Alfredo in La traviata. In 1966 he went on to sing the title role in Ginastera's Don Rodrigo at New York City Opera.
In 1968 Plácido Domingo made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Maurizio in Cilèa's Adriana Lecouvreur. Since then he has appeared there 400 times in forty different roles, and was a star guest at the MET Centenary Gala. Placido Domingo is a regular guest of the world's greatest opera houses, including La Scala Milan, the Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, the Teatro Liceo in Barcelona, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He was also the first classical musician to give a solo concert in New York's Central Park.
In addition to performing his immense wealth of Italian and French opera roles, Plácido Domingo is constantly seeking new challenges. In recent years he has expanded his repertoire to include a number of Wagner operas including Die Meistersinger, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Parsifal and Der fliegende Holländer as well as Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten, Carl Maria von Weber’s Oberon and Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame (in the latter singing Hermann, his first Russian role). He sang Parsifal for the first time at the MET in March 1991 and at La Scala, Milan in December 1991. His Bayreuth debut in the role of Parsifal in 1992 was a sensation for press and public alike. In December 1992 he sang Siegmund in Die Walküre at the Vienna State Opera.
Plácido Domingo plays an active role in promoting contemporary music, for example Gian Carlo Menotti's Goya - a piece that was composed for him and which received its world premiere at Washington Opera in 1986. He frequently makes use of his immense popularity to bring little-known works to the attention of a broader public. In 1992, in Seville, he sang the role of Rafael Ruiz in Manuel Penella's rediscovered masterpiece El Gato Montés, a composition that Domingo himself has described as "the Spanish answer to Carmen", and has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon. In November 1993 he sang in the first New York Metropolitan Opera production of Verdi's little-known opera Stiffelio. On the occasion of the reopening of the Royal Opera House in Madrid in 1997 he sang in the world premiere of Garcia Abril’s Divinas Palabras. He is also actively engaged in promoting the careers of young musicians. In May 1993 he founded an international competition for young opera singers, "Operalia", which is to be held each year in a different country.
Plácido Domingo also conducts on a regular basis. His debut at the New York City Opera with La traviata in the 1973-74 season was followed by conducting engagements at the Teatro Liceo, San Francisco Opera, Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden and the MET, as well as other leading opera houses. In 1988 he took the London Symphony Orchestra on a tour of Spain and has given numerous concerts with other great orchestras.
Domingo has recorded with Deutsche Grammophon for more than 25 years. His discography includes not only the most important operas of Bizet, Donizetti, Gounod, Massenet, Mascagni, Mozart, Offenbach, Puccini, Saint-Saëns, Verdi and Wagner, but also French and Italian arias, lieder and tangos.
The star tenor has received numerous awards and prizes, including the French Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur and Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, the title Kammersänger in Hamburg, Munich and Vienna, Spain's Orden de Isabel la Catolica and Mexico's Aguila Azteca. He has been awarded numerous honorary doctorates, i.e. by the University of Madrid; and in the USA he has received the Doctor of Fine Arts from New York University and Honorary Doctor of Music degrees from Oklahoma University, Philadelphia College and Georgetown University.
Plácido Domingo is Artistic Advisor to the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, and was Music Director of the World Exhibition at Seville in 1992. In 1996 he took over the position of Artistic Director of the Washington Opera. He is also one of the founders of the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, where he will become Artistic Director in July 2000.
In 1968 Plácido Domingo made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Maurizio in Cilèa's Adriana Lecouvreur. Since then he has appeared there 400 times in forty different roles, and was a star guest at the MET Centenary Gala. Placido Domingo is a regular guest of the world's greatest opera houses, including La Scala Milan, the Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, the Teatro Liceo in Barcelona, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He was also the first classical musician to give a solo concert in New York's Central Park.
In addition to performing his immense wealth of Italian and French opera roles, Plácido Domingo is constantly seeking new challenges. In recent years he has expanded his repertoire to include a number of Wagner operas including Die Meistersinger, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Parsifal and Der fliegende Holländer as well as Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten, Carl Maria von Weber’s Oberon and Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame (in the latter singing Hermann, his first Russian role). He sang Parsifal for the first time at the MET in March 1991 and at La Scala, Milan in December 1991. His Bayreuth debut in the role of Parsifal in 1992 was a sensation for press and public alike. In December 1992 he sang Siegmund in Die Walküre at the Vienna State Opera.
Plácido Domingo plays an active role in promoting contemporary music, for example Gian Carlo Menotti's Goya - a piece that was composed for him and which received its world premiere at Washington Opera in 1986. He frequently makes use of his immense popularity to bring little-known works to the attention of a broader public. In 1992, in Seville, he sang the role of Rafael Ruiz in Manuel Penella's rediscovered masterpiece El Gato Montés, a composition that Domingo himself has described as "the Spanish answer to Carmen", and has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon. In November 1993 he sang in the first New York Metropolitan Opera production of Verdi's little-known opera Stiffelio. On the occasion of the reopening of the Royal Opera House in Madrid in 1997 he sang in the world premiere of Garcia Abril’s Divinas Palabras. He is also actively engaged in promoting the careers of young musicians. In May 1993 he founded an international competition for young opera singers, "Operalia", which is to be held each year in a different country.
Plácido Domingo also conducts on a regular basis. His debut at the New York City Opera with La traviata in the 1973-74 season was followed by conducting engagements at the Teatro Liceo, San Francisco Opera, Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden and the MET, as well as other leading opera houses. In 1988 he took the London Symphony Orchestra on a tour of Spain and has given numerous concerts with other great orchestras.
Domingo has recorded with Deutsche Grammophon for more than 25 years. His discography includes not only the most important operas of Bizet, Donizetti, Gounod, Massenet, Mascagni, Mozart, Offenbach, Puccini, Saint-Saëns, Verdi and Wagner, but also French and Italian arias, lieder and tangos.
The star tenor has received numerous awards and prizes, including the French Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur and Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, the title Kammersänger in Hamburg, Munich and Vienna, Spain's Orden de Isabel la Catolica and Mexico's Aguila Azteca. He has been awarded numerous honorary doctorates, i.e. by the University of Madrid; and in the USA he has received the Doctor of Fine Arts from New York University and Honorary Doctor of Music degrees from Oklahoma University, Philadelphia College and Georgetown University.
Plácido Domingo is Artistic Advisor to the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, and was Music Director of the World Exhibition at Seville in 1992. In 1996 he took over the position of Artistic Director of the Washington Opera. He is also one of the founders of the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, where he will become Artistic Director in July 2000.
