Plácido Domingo

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José Plácido Domingo Embil KBE (born 21 January 1941),^[1] better known as Plácido Domingo, is a Spanish 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 2008, he debuted in his 128th opera role^[2], giving Domingo more roles than any other tenor.^[3][4] He is also admired for his acting ability, his musicality and musical intellect, and the number and variety of opera roles that he has mastered. In addition to his singing roles, he has 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.

Contents 1 Biography and career 1.1 Early years 1.2 1960s–1980s 1.3 1990s – present 1.4 Family 2 Recordings 2.1 Appearances on film and television 2.2 Christmas in Vienna 3 Complete repertoire 3.1 Major opera house and festival debut 4 Awards and honors 4.1 Grammy Award 4.2 Latin Grammy Award 4.3 Government and organization honors 4.4 Honorary Doctorates 4.5 Other entertainment awards and appreciation 5 Writings 6 Humanitarian works and initiatives 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Biography and career

[edit] Early years

Plácido Domingo was born near the Barrio de Salamanca section of Madrid,^[5] Spain, and moved to Mexico with his family, who ran a zarzuela company. 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. He made his opera debut performing in Manuel Fernández Caballero's zarzuela, Gigantes y cabezudos, singing a baritone role. 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 led by César Costa. He learned piano and conducting, but made his stage debut acting in a minor role in 1959 (12 May) 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.

[edit] 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 Texas to play the role of Edgardo in the same opera with Lily Pons at the Fort Worth Opera.^[6] 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 Israel 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 17 June 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 U.S. 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.

His official debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York occurred on 28 September 1968 when he substituted for Franco Corelli, in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur singing with Renata Tebaldi. Before Adriana Lecouvreur, he had sung in performances by the Metropolitan Opera at Lewisohn Stadium of Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci in 1966. Since then, he has opened the season at the Metropolitan Opera 21 times,^[7] 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 7 October 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 19 September 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.

[edit] 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 early in 2008 only, he has added 38 new roles to 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, along with rising stars Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón. On 24 August 2008, Domingo performed a duet with Song Zuying, singing Ài de Huǒyàn (The Flame of Love) at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Beijing.^[8][9][10]

In what has been called his 'final career move', Plácido Domingo announced on 25 January 2007 that in 2009 he would take on one of Verdi's most demanding baritone roles, the Doge of Genoa, Simon Boccanegra, in the opera of the same name. He would, however, continue to sing tenor roles beforehand and afterwards.

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 21 August 2007, in Mexico City, a two meter tall statue and weighing about 300 kg (660 lbs) was built in his honor. On 23 March 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". In April 2008, he was voted as the greatest tenor in history in BBC Music Magazine judged by 16 renowned opera critics.

On 15 March 2009, The Metropolitan Opera paid tribute to Domingo's 40th anniversary with the company with the on-stage gala dinner at the Met’s 125th anniversary, after his debut in Adriana Lecouvreur as Maurizio opposite Renata Tebaldi on 28 September 1968^[11]

[edit] Family

He was born to Plácido Francisco Domingo Ferrer (8 March 1907 – 22 November 1987) ^[12] and Pepita Embil Echaníz (28 February 1918 – 28 September 1994),^[13] two Spanish zarzuela stars who nurtured his early musical abilities. Domingo's father was half Catalan and half Aragonese while his mother was a Basque. His father 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.^[14] In addition to their son, they also have a daughter, Maria José Domingo de Fernandez .

On 29 August 1957 at age 16, Plácido Domingo married a fellow piano student, Ana María Guerra Cué (1938–1985) and his first son, José Plácido Domingo Guerra (Pepe) was born on 16 June 1958.^[15] However, the marriage didn't last long, the couple separated shortly thereafter. In 1 August 1962, Plácido Domingo married Marta Ornelas, a lyric soprano from Veracruz, Mexico, whom he met during his conservatory days.^[16] 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 Francisco (Plácido Jr.) born on 21 October 1965 and Alvaro Maurizio born on 11 October 1968.^[17] After a period of time living in Israel, he and his family resided in Teaneck, New Jersey.^[18][19][20] During vacations, he usually spends his time with family in their vacation home in Acapulco, Mexico.^[21][22]

[edit] 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 8 August 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 has not 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.

In December 2008, Deutsche Grammophon released Domingo’s latest CD, Amore Infinito in which the album songs were inspired based on poems of Pope John Paul II. In the album, Domingo performing duet with Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Katherine Jenkins, Vanessa L. Williams, and with his son, Plácido Domingo Jr.^[23]

[edit] Appearances on film and television

See Domingo's opera recording in DVD/VHS format and audio CD format.

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, Giuseppe Patroni Griffi's Tosca with Catherine Malfitano (Emmy Award),^[24] Franco Zeffirelli's Otello with Katia Ricciarelli, 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 "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!.

In 1989, the international television series, 'Return Journey' featured Domingo returning to his home city of Madrid refecting life there whilst recording an album of Zarzuela arias for EMI. The film was directed by Ken MacGregor.

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.

[edit] 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. Vienna was chosen in 1992 to host the event due to its reputation as a capital of music and the particular charm of Austria during Christmas time. The Wiener Symphoniker under the direction of maestro Vjekoslav Šutej provided the orchestral music, and the Gumpoldskirchen Children's Choir provided choral vocals. On 23 December 1992 the first in what would turn out to be a series of Christmas in Vienna concerts was seen worldwide by several hundred million people. Plácido Domingo returned to Vienna for many more Christmas in Vienna concerts, performing with stars and friends of both pop and classical music, including Dionne Warwick, Charles Aznavour, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Michael Bolton, Sarah Brightman, Riccardo Cocciante, Patricia Kaas, Luciano Pavarotti, Tony Bennett, and many others.

[edit] Complete repertoire

Perhaps the most versatile of all living tenors, Domingo has sung 128 opera roles and as many as 130 roles (overall) in Italian, French, German, English, Spanish and Russian^[25]. 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 26 March 2008 at Teatro Real.

Year	#	Title	Composer	Role	Debut date	Opera house / Studio recording	Location
1959	1	Rigoletto	Verdi	Borsa	23 September 1959	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
	2	Dialogues of the Carmelites	Poulenc	Chaplain	21 October 1959	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
1960	3	The Merry Widow	Lehár	Danilo, Camille	1960	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
	4	Turandot	Puccini	Altoum	11 September 1960	Teatro de la Ciudad	Monterrey
	5	Turandot	Puccini	Pang	1 October 1960	Teatro de la Ciudad	Monterrey
	6	Lucia di Lammermoor	Donizetti	Normanno	5 October 1960	Teatro de la Ciudad	Monterrey
	7	La traviata	Verdi	Gastone	8 October 1960	Teatro de la Ciudad	Monterrey
	8	Carmen	Bizet	Remendado	15 October 1960	Teatro de la Ciudad	Monterrey
	9	Otello	Verdi	Cassio	17 October 1960	Teatro de la Ciudad	Monterrey
1961	10	La traviata	Verdi	Alfredo	19 May 1961	Teatro de la Ciudad	Monterrey
	11	El Ultimo sueno	Vázquez	Enrique	28 May 1961	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
	12	Amelia goes to the ball	Menotti	Lover	28 June 1961	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
	13	Fedora	Giordano	Désire, Baron Rouvel	2 July 1961	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
	14	Boris Godunov	Mussorgsky	Simpleton, Shuisky	8 August 1961	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
	15	Andrea Chénier	Giordano	Abbé, Incredibile	15 August 1961	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
	16	Tosca	Puccini	Spoletta	21 August 1961	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
	17	Madama Butterfly	Puccini	Goro	15 September 1961	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
	18	Tosca	Puccini	Cavaradossi	30 September 1961	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
1962	19	La bohème	Puccini	Rodolfo	4 March 1962	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
	20	Così fan tutte	Mozart	Ferrando	10 May 1962	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
	21	Adriana Lecouvreur	Cilea	Maurizio	17 May 1962	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
	22	Trittico Francescano	Refice		1 October 1962	Teatro Degollado	Guadalajara
	23	Madama Butterfly	Puccini	Pinkerton	7 October 1962	Teatro Isauro Martínez	Torreón
	24	Lucia di Lammermoor	Donizetti	Edgardo	26 November 1962	Fort Worth Opera	Fort Worth
1963	25	Carmen	Bizet	Don José	25 June 1963	Israeli Opera House	Tel Aviv
	26	Don Giovanni	Mozart	Don Ottavio	21 September 1963	Israeli Opera House	Tel Aviv
	27	Faust	Gounod	Faust	3 December 1963	Israeli Opera House	Tel Aviv
1964	28	Les pêcheurs de perles	Bizet	Nadir	21 January 1964	Israeli Opera House	Tel Aviv
	29	Eugene Onegin	Tchaikovsky	Lenski	5 September 1964	Israeli Opera House	Tel Aviv
1965	30	Cavalleria rusticana	Mascagni	Turiddu	21 January 1965	Israeli Opera House	Tel Aviv
	31	Samson and Delilah	Saint-Saëns	Samson	30 July 1965	Chautauqua Opera	Chautauqua
	32	Les contes d'Hoffmann	Offenbach	Hoffmann	7 September 1965	Palacio de Bellas Artes	Mexico City
1966	33	La Mulata de Córdoba	Mancayo	Sandi, Moreno, Moncayo	1 January 1966	Gran Teatre del Liceu	Barcelona
	34	Don Rodrigo	Ginastera	Don Rodrigo	22 February 1966	New York City Opera	New York
	35	Andrea Chénier	Giordano	Andrea Chénier	3 March 1966	New Orleans Opera	New Orleans
	36	Hippolyte et Aricie	Rameau	Hippolyte	6 April 1966	Boston Opera House	Boston
	37	Pagliacci	Leoncavallo	Canio	9 August 1966	Metropolitan Opera	New York
	38	The Barber of Seville	Rossini	Almaviva	16 September 1966	Teatro Degollado	Guadalajara
	39	Anna Bolena	Donizetti	Lord Percy	15 November 1966	Metropolitan Opera	New York
1967	40	Il tabarro	Puccini	Luigi	8 March 1967	Metropolitan Opera	New York
	41	Aida	Verdi	Radames	11 May 1967	Hamburg State Opera	Hamburg
	42	Don Carlo	Verdi	Don Carlo	19 May 1967	Vienna State Opera	Vienna
	43	Un ballo in maschera	Verdi	Riccardo	31 May 1967	Berlin State Opera	Berlin
1968	44	Lohengrin	Wagner	Lohengrin	14 January 1968	Hamburg State Opera	Hamburg
	45	Manon Lescaut	Puccini	Des Grieux	15 February 1968	Connecticut Opera	Hartford
	46	Il trovatore	Verdi	Manrico	14 March 1968	New Orleans Opera	New Orleans
1969	47	Rigoletto	Verdi	Il Duca	2 January 1969	Hamburg State Opera	Hamburg
	48	La forza del destino	Verdi	Don Alvaro	18 January 1969	Hamburg State Opera	Hamburg
	49	Manon	Massenet	Des Grieux	20 February 1969	Metropolitan Opera	New York
	50	Turandot	Puccini	Calaf	16 July 1969	Verona Arena	Verona
	51	Ernani	Verdi	Ernani	7 December 1969	Teatro alla Scala	Milan
1970	52	Oberon	Weber	Hüon	March, 1970	Bayerischer Rundfunk studio	Studio
	53	La Gioconda	Ponchielli	Enzo	14 May 1970	Teatro Real	Madrid
	54	Roberto Devereux	Donizetti	Devereux	15 October 1970	New York City Opera	New York
1971	55	Der Rosenkavalier	R. Strauss	Italian singer	March, 1971		Studio
	56	I Lombardi alla prima crociata	Verdi	Oronte	July, 1971	Royal Philharmonic, London	Studio
	57	Luisa Miller	Verdi	Rodolfo	4 November 1971	Metropolitan Opera	New York
1972	58	Giovanna d'Arco	Verdi	Carlo VII	August, 1972		Studio
	59	Los Claveles	Serrano	Fernando	1972		Studio
	60	La dolorosa	Serrano	Rafael	1972		Studio
1973	61	Francesca da Rimini	Zandonai	Paolo	22 March 1973	Metropolitan Opera	New York
	62	L'Africaine	Meyerbeer	Vasco da Gama	3 November 1973	War Memorial Opera House	San Francisco
1974	63	I Vespri Siciliani	Verdi	Arrigo	9 April 1974	Palais Garnier	Paris
	64	Mefistofele	Boito	Faust	July, 1974		Studio
	65	Roméo et Juliette	Gounod	Roméo	28 September 1974	Metropolitan Opera	New York
	66	La fanciulla del West	Puccini	Dick Johnson	26 November 1974	Teatro Regio di Torino	Turin
1975	67	La Navarraise	Massenet	Araquil	1975		Studio
	68	Otello	Verdi	Otello	28 September 1975	Hamburg State Opera	Hamburg
1976	69	Gianni Schicchi	Puccini	Rinuccio	1976		Studio
	70	Louise	Charpentier	Julien	1976		Studio
	71	Macbeth	Verdi	Macduff	1976		Studio
	72	Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg	Wagner	Walther von Stolzing	March, 1976		Studio
	73	Le Cid	Massenet	Don Rodrigue	8 March 1976	Opera Orchestra of New York	Carnegie Hall, New York
	74	L'amore dei tre re	Montemezzi	Avito	July, 1976		Studio
1977	75	L'elisir d'amore	Donizetti	Nemorino	1977		Studio
	76	Fedora	Giordano	Loris	15 February 1977	Gran Teatre del Liceu	Barcelona
	77	Werther	Massenet	Werther	18 December 1977	Bavarian State Opera	Munich
1978	78	La damnation de Faust	Berlioz	Faust	January, 1978		Studio
1979	79	Le Villi	Puccini	Roberto	June, 1979		Studio
	80	Requiem	Berlioz	Tenor part	June, 1979		Studio
	81	Béatrice et Bénédict	Berlioz	Bénédict	July, 1979		Studio
	82	Il Giuramento	Mercadante	Viscardo	9 September 1979	Vienna State Opera	Vienna
1980	83	El Poeta	Torroba	José de Espronceda	19 June 1980	Teatro Real	Madrid
1981	84	Norma	Bellini	Pollione	21 September 1981	Metropolitan Opera	New York
1982	85	La rondine	Puccini	Ruggero	1982		Studio
	86	Nabucco	Verdi	Ismaele	May, 1982		Studio
	87	Les Troyens	Berlioz	Enée	26 September 1983	Metropolitan Opera	New York
1986	88	Die Fledermaus	J. Strauss	Alfred	April, 1986		Studio
	89	Goya	Menotti	Goya	15 November 1986	Washington National Opera	Washington
1988	90	Iris	Mascagni	Osaka	1988		Studio
	91	Tannhäuser	Wagner	Tannhäuser	April, 1988		Studio
1989	92	Die Frau ohne Schatten	R. Strauss	Der Kaiser	March, 1989		Studio
1990	93	Man of La Mancha	Leigh	Don Quixote	June, 1990		Studio
1991	94	The Flying Dutchman	Wagner	Erik	February, 1991		Studio
	95	Parsifal	Wagner	Parsifal	14 March 1991	Metropolitan Opera	New York
1992	96	The Barber of Seville	Rossini	Figaro	February, 1992		Studio
	97	El Gato Montés	Penella	Rafaele Ruiz	7 August 1992	Seville Opera	Seville
	98	Die Walküre	Wagner	Siegmund	19 December 1992	Vienna State Opera	Vienna
1993	99	Stiffelio	Verdi	Stiffelio	21 October 1993	Metropolitan Opera	New York
1994	100	Doña Francisquita	Vives	Fernando	February, 1994		Studio
	101	La Verbena de la Paloma	Bretón	Julian	April, 1994		Studio
	102	Il Guarany	Gomes	Pery	5 June 1994	Bonn Opera House	Bonn
	103	Idomeneo	Mozart	Idomeneo	1 November 1994	Metropolitan Opera	New York
	104	Hérodiade	Massenet	Jean	8 November 1994	War Memorial Opera House	San Francisco
1995	105	Luisa Fernanda	Torroba	Javier	1995		Studio
	106	Simon Boccanegra (1881 version)	Verdi	Adorno	19 January 1995	Metropolitan Opera	New York
1996	107	La Tabernera del Puerto	Sorozábal	Leandro	1996		Studio
1997	108	Simon Boccanegra (1857 version)	Verdi	Adorno	28 June 1997	Royal Opera House	London
	109	Divinas Palabras	Abril	Lucero	18 October 1997	Teatro Real	Madrid
1998	110	Le prophète	Meyerbeer	Jean van der Leyden	21 May 1998	Vienna State Opera	Vienna
	111	Faust Symphony	Liszt	Tenor part	June, 1998		Studio
	112	La Dolores	Bretón	Lázaro	July, 1998		Studio
1999	113	Das Lied von der Erde	Mahler	Tenor part	February, 1999		Studio
	114	Misa Tango	Bacalov	Tenor part	February, 1999		Studio
	115	The Queen of Spades	Tchaikovsky	Hermann	18 March 1999	Metropolitan Opera	New York
	116	Fidelio	Beethoven	Florestan	June, 1999		Studio
	117	Merlin	Albéniz	King Arthur	July, 1999	Orquesta Nacional de España, Madrid	Studio
	118	Margarita la tornera	Chapí	Don Juan de Alarcón	11 December 1999	Teatro Real	Madrid
2000	119	La Gran Via	Chueca	Caballero de Gracía	January, 2000		Studio
	120	The Merry Widow	Lehár	Danilo	17 February 2000	Metropolitan Opera	New York
	121	La battaglia di Legnano	Verdi	Arrigo	30 June 2000	Royal Opera House	London
2001	122	La Revoltosa	Chapí	Felipe	January, 2001		Studio
2002	123	Sly	Wolf-Ferrari	Christopher Sly	1 April 2002	Metropolitan Opera	New York
2003	124	Luisa Fernanda	Torroba	Vidal Hernando	18 June 2003	Teatro alla Scala	Milan
	125	Nicholas and Alexandra	Drattell	Rasputin	14 September 2003	Los Angeles Opera	Los Angeles
2004	126	Tristan und Isolde	Wagner	Tristan	December, 2004	EMI Abbey Road Studio 1, London	Studio
2005	127	Cyrano de Bergerac	Alfano	Cyrano	13 May 2005	Metropolitan Opera	New York
2006	128	The First Emperor	Tan	Emperor Qin	21 December 2006	Metropolitan Opera	New York
2007	129	Iphigénie en Tauride	Gluck	Oreste	27 November 2007	Metropolitan Opera	New York
2008	130	Tamerlano	Handel	Bajazet	26 March 2008	Teatro Real	Madrid

[edit] Major opera house and festival debut

Year[26]	Opera house / Festival	Opera
1967	Hamburg State Opera	Tosca
	Vienna State Opera	Don Carlo
1968	Metropolitan Opera	Adriana Lecouvreur
1969	Verona Arena	Turandot
	San Francisco Opera	La bohème
	Teatro alla Scala	Ernani
1970	Teatro Real	La Gioconda
	Edinburgh Festival	Missa Solemnis
1971	Royal Opera House	Tosca
1972	Bavarian State Opera	La bohème
1973	Paris Opéra	Il trovatore
1975	Salzburg Festival	Don Carlo
1992	Bayreuth Festival	Parsifal

[edit] Awards and honors

Domingo has received numerous awards^[27] and honors,^[28] including:

[edit] 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

[edit] Latin Grammy Award

• 2000: Best Classical Album for T. Breton: La Dolores
• 2001: Best Classical Album for I. Albéniz: Merlin
• 2008: "Best Classical Album" for various composers Pasión Española^[29]

[edit] Government and organization honors

Austria

• Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst 1. Klasse
• Kammersänger und Ehrenmitglied der Wiener Staatsoper
• Goldenes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um das Land Wien – 2007

France

• Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur
• Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
• Commandeur Arts et Lettres
• Grande Médaille de la Ville de Paris
• Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur – March 2002

Great Britain

• Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) – October 2002

Spain

• Real Orden de Isabel la Católica
• Premio Príncipe de Asturias (1991)
• Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil – September 2002

Sweden

• Birgit Nilsson Prize, inaugural recipient (2009)^[30][31][32]

USA

• Kennedy Center Honors – December 2000
• The presidential Medal of Freedom – July 2002

Other countries

• Orden del Águila Azteca, (Mexico).
• Capo dell’Ordine "Al Merito della Repubblica Italiana" Grande Ufficiale (Italy)
• Grã-Cruz da Ordem do Infante D. Henrique (Portugal)
• Cavalliere, Sovrano Militare Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme di Rode e di Malta
• Order of the Cedars (Lebanon) (2004)

NPO

• Unicef Socio de Honor (UNICEF)

[edit] Honorary Doctorates

• 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)

[edit] Other entertainment awards and appreciation

• A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – 1993 (Location: Domingo, Placido LT 7000 Hollywood Blvd)^[33]
• A star on the Kunstmeile (Art Mile) in Vienna (2008)
• 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)
• Opera News Award for distinguished achievement, inaugural recipient, 2005
• Classical BRIT Awards (2006) (Critics' Award for Tristan und Isolde and Lifetime Achievement Award)^[34][35]
• Domingo was named "The King of singers" in BBC Music Magazine for April 2008 issue. He was voted as the greatest tenor in history 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." ^{[36] [37][38][39]}
• BAMBI award in 1985 and 2008^[40]
• In 2009 Domingo was appointed the inaugural Washington Ambassador to the Arts by Guide for the Arts.^[41]

[edit] Writings

Date	Title	Publisher	ISBN	Pages	Author(s)
Sept 1983	My First Forty Years	Alfred A. Knopf	ISBN 0394523296	256	Plácido Domingo
Dec 1994	Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera	Hyperion	ISBN 0786880252	494	Fred Plotkin, Plácido Domingo (intro)
July 1997	Christmas With Plácido Domingo: Trumpets Sound And Angels Sing	Alfred Publishing Company	ISBN 0895243210	80	Plácido Domingo, Milton Okun (editor)
July 1997	Bajo el cielo español (Under the Spanish Sky)	Warner Brothers Publications	ISBN 0769200249	84	Plácido Domingo (Recorder), Carol Cuellar (Compiler)
March 1999	Plácido Domingo — Por Amor	Hal Leonard Corporation	ISBN 0711972583	104	Plácido Domingo
March 2003	Plácido Domingo (Great Voices Series): My Operatic Roles	Baskerville Publishers, Incorporated	ISBN 1880909618	319	Helena Matheopoulos, Plácido Domingo
March 2007	Leoncavallo: Life and Works	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc	ISBN 0810858738 ISBN 0810858800	349 351	Konrad Claude Dryden, Plácido Domingo (intro)
Dec 2007	So When Does the Fat Lady Sing?	Hal Leonard Corporation	ISBN 1574671626	173	Michael Walsh, Plácido Domingo (intro)

• A new book by Domingo, The Joy of Opera, will be published by WWW Norton in year 2009^[42][43]

[edit] Humanitarian works and initiatives

• On 4 March 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!" ^{[44] [45]}. On 23 March 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^[46].

• 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 21 August 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.^[47][48].

• Domingo supports the Hear the World initiative as an ambassador to raise awareness for the topic of hearing and hearing loss.^[49]

• In 1993 he founded Operalia, The World Opera Competition, an international opera competition for talented young singers. The winners get the opportunities of being employed in opera ensembles around the world.^[50] 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 21 December 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.^[51]

• On 27 June 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.^[52]

• In 2 October 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.^[53]

• On 17 January 2009 he performed with the New Orleans Opera directed by Robert Lyall in a gala reopening of New Orleans' Mahalia Jackson Theatre for the Performing Arts. The master of ceremonies was New Orleans native Patricia Clarkson.^[54]

[edit] See also

• List of recordings by Plácido Domingo
• The Three Tenors
• Christmas in Vienna I, II, III, and VI
• Domingo sings and conducts Tchaikovsky
• Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording
• Category:Plácido Domingo albums

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Plácido Domingo

• Official website
• Plácido Domingo International Operalia Opera Singer Contest
• World Tour Homepage
• Discography on EMI Classics website
• Discography on DG Classics website
• Opera is expensive, singers are cheap, Plácido Domingo about too small Operas, Casting-Singers as Paul Potts and the humility before a great career (Interview by Nahuel Lopez in German, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, 17 March 2009)
• Interview with Domingo from The Guardian, 10 July 2005
• Biography at the Kennedy Center
• Plácido Domingo's video of concerts and Opera from YouTube.com
• Guardian article detailing his switch to baritone.