José Placido Domingo Embil is the full name of the famous Spanish singer with a strong voice and deep artistic talent. Domingo is a lyrical and dramatic tenor. Having vast experience and a selfless love of art, the artist performed more than one hundred forty leading arias in famous operas and participated in more than three and a half thousand performances. Such records could not be overcome even by the most outstanding opera singers of the world, such as Eduardo Caruso and Luciano Pavarotti. By the way, Placido Domingo is one of the three most famous and revered opera tenors of our time.
In recent years, Placido Domingo's songwriting has been enriched by another role - the artist is the conductor at once in two American opera houses located in Washington and Los Angeles.
Thanks to what the artist was able to achieve such magnificent heights in such a difficult field? When did he feel his calling and what was the beginning of Placido Domingo's career? What is the personal life of an artist, a hobby and a hobby? Let's find out.
Musical childhood
The biography of Placido Domingo originates in the warm and sunny Madrid (Spain), where he was born in the winter of 1941. From early childhood, the boy was familiar with music and theatrical art. Parents of the future tenor performed in Zarzuela (a Spanish operetta that combined opera singing, dancing and speaking).
The Placido Domingo family was very famous, so the boy was accustomed from infancy to the adoration of the public, constant concerts and tours. He instilled a love of music, theater, Spanish culture, over time, a desire appeared to shine on the stage and win the hearts of the audience.
From early childhood, parents helped their son not only develop their talents, but also decide on the type of activity. He sang, played instruments, participated in skits, chased football and admired bullfighting ... Such a versatile orientation was to discipline and help to fulfill oneself.
Training and first performances
At the age of eight, Placido Domingo moved with his parents to Mexico, where Domingo Sr. organized their troupe and performed at various opera houses. Of course, in their repertoire they always found a small but characteristic role for their son. For example, Placido Domingo participated in “Rigoletto” in the role of Matteo Borsa, and also performed chaplain arias in the Mexican opera “Dialogues of the Carmelites”.
Two years before his first debut, at the age of fourteen, the aspiring artist entered the National Conservatory, where he studied piano and conducting. Studying the theory, the young man did not forget to practice. He often accompanied his mother in the process of her solo performances, and also led the orchestra several times during the productions of Zarzuela.
The first marriage of the artist
At sixteen, Placido Domingo's personal and creative biography changed dramatically - he married Mexican pianist Anna Maria Guerra, and soon the son of Jose was born to a young couple.
The young father, in order to feed the baby and his beloved wife, was forced to head off to work. There was not enough money from speaking with his mother and performing arias in his father’s productions. Therefore, the novice artist decides to improvise - he composes background music for various productions, conducts his own musical radio program, and teaches chorists to participate in musicals. Along with this, the young man acts in bars as a pianist-dancer, plays minor roles in television plays based on the works of Chekhov and Garcia Lorca, sings in musicals and plays for the ballet ensemble.
However, such workload and material security could not save the marriage. Placido and Anna Maria break up, and new opportunities open up for the young singer.
First samples
In 1959, the biography of Placido Domingo undergoes drastic changes - thanks to his friend, the son of a Mexican diplomat, a talented artist gets a chance to get into the National Opera.
At the audition, he performs his two baritone arias, which attracts the attention of a strict and demanding judicial commission. However, he is asked to change his role a little, performing the composition with a tenor. Placido Domingo never sang in that voice and a little fake, but he was still accepted for a permanent job.
Performances on the big stage
The most significant role of the beginning tenor on the Mexican opera stage was the performance of the role of Alfred Germont in Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Traviata. This happened in May 1961.
And exactly six months later, a talented singer sets off to conquer the United States. At first, he performs in Dallas, where he shines in the title role in the opera Lucia di Lammermoor. Here, a young man meets his second wife, an opera singer, with an incredibly strong soprano Marta Ornelas. Together they travel to Israel, where they perform on the stage of the opera house in Tel Aviv for almost three years.
The Israeli period is a turning point in the biography of Placido Domingo. Here he performs more than ten parts in almost three hundred performances! An unprecedented workload had a little effect on the technique of the honored tenor. However, his faithful life partner and family friend Franco Iglesias help the singer even his voice and start singing technically correctly again. The most famous song of Placido Domingo of that time is Nadir’s aria from the opera “Seekers of Pearls” (Bizet).
At the age of twenty-five, the talented artist moves to New York, where he brilliantly plays complex and stressful roles. This is Alberto in Don Rodrigo, and Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, and Jose Carmen and many, many others.
The popularity of the performer is growing, he is being trusted with increasingly important and significant roles, he is invited to his productions by the legendary theaters of the whole world. A talented tenor performs in Vienna, shining in the famous “Don Quixote”, in Hamburg, delightfully and accurately conveying the atmosphere of “Tosca” on stage.
The singing of Placido Domingo fascinates and amazes the audience with its strength and sensuality, awe and power. He sensually and vitally conveys the most complex and contradictory feelings of his heroes, his voice sounds loudly, naturally and technically correctly.
What has the spouse of the great maestro been doing all this time?
Second marriage
The second wife of Placido Domingo decides to become the muse and support of his talented and delightful spouse. She leaves the opera and devotes herself to the family. Soon the couple will have two sons.
Only decades later, Martha Ornelas returned to the world of art, finding his vocation as a director of opera productions. But even then, she is still the good genius of her husband, his constant companion and gentle girlfriend.
America and other countries
Since 1968, the Spanish tenor every year opens the creative season on the stage of the famous Metropolitan Opera, located in New York. From now on, he becomes a regular on these stages, torn between grateful America and Europe, complacent to him.
In Europe, he shines on the stages of Verona and Milan, Madrid and Edinburgh, London and Munich. His voice is heard in such famous operas as “Turandot”, “Hernani”, “Bohemia”, “Gioconda”, “La Traviata”, “Don Carlos”.
In 1970, Placido Domingo sings along with the famous Montserrat Caballe. Their duet from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Masquerade Ball” is becoming the most popular and notable in the history of opera.
With whom else from the famous opera singers did the Spanish tenor collaborate?
Three tenors
Among the most famous opponents of Placido Domingo are Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras.
Luciano Pavarotti is the famous Italian tenor (1935-2007). His voice was distinguished by its characteristic ease of sound and warmth in execution.
Jose Carreras is a famous Spanish tenor, known for his colorful interpretation of the immortal works of Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini.
Within the framework of the “Three Tenors” project, the above-mentioned talented performers worked closely with each other for thirteen years, performing on the same stage.
It all started in 1990, when three talented artists performed in Rome in honor of the closing of the World Cup. At this concert in honor of the leukemia charity foundation, one Italian tenor and two Spanish loved each other very much and decided to give joint concerts from time to time. These performances were received by the audience with a bang, they won the hearts of classical music lovers and gathered full halls.
The most famous songs of Placido Domingo, which he performed at these concerts, are “Santa Lucia”, as well as “On the salt of myo”.
Many times the stars of the world opera shone at the closures of football competitions. Together they made a world tour, performing complex arias in the stadiums of London, Tokyo, Dusseldorf, Toronto and others.
The final concert of the three tenors in Houston was canceled due to insufficient payback. This happened in 2003, four years before the death of one of the “singing trinity” - Luciano Pavarotti.
Performances in the Russian Federation
An important milestone in the work of Placido Domingo can be called his concert activity in our homeland. The famous performer visited Moscow and St. Petersburg many times both for solo performances, as a member of the jury of opera contests or as an honorary guest at other important events.
Among the recent visits by the Spanish tenor of Russia, it is worth noting his concert programs of 2009 and 2010, as well as a charity concert of 2012, held in one of Moscow churches, where Placido Domingo again met with Jose Carreras on the same stage after a long break.
It is also impossible not to mention the performance of the Spanish singer in 2013, where he shone on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater not only as a performer, but also as a conductor.
Among the outstanding compositions of this concert was the aria from The Queen of Spades performed by Placido Domingo in Russian.
As you can see, the study of foreign languages is not difficult for this hardworking man in love with his profession. It is noteworthy that in 2008, at the age of sixty-seven, he performed a song in Chinese. This remarkable event took place at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.
Great singer's health
Of course, such a busy rhythm of life could not but affect the health of the already old Placido Domingo. Constant stresses, flights, performances (which exhaust not only physically, but also mentally) led to the fact that in 2010 the artist discovered cancer polyps. It happened right on tour in Japan. However, the tumor removal operation was successful, thanks to which the Spanish tenor was able to return to the big stage a month and a half later, having triumphantly performed in Milan, London and Moscow.
Three years later, the singer was again attacked by an ailment. This time he was hospitalized due to pulmonary thrombosis. After intensive treatment, after only three weeks, Placido Domingo returned to concert activity, performing Giacomo’s aria in the opera “Joan of Arc”.
Now this talented and dedicated opera singer and director does not even think about ending his career. He is ready to continue to conquer opera houses around the world, giving his listeners incredible pleasure and enjoyment.
Many people wonder if the artist has a favorite role or favorite song. As can be seen from many interviews, Placido Domingo equally applies to all his characters and productions in which he happened to take part.
Awards and rewards
During his sixty-year career in music ministry, the Spanish tenor has earned many awards and rewards. He became a real opera genius, a man who wants to listen for hours.
Among the honorary titles of Placido Domingo, it should be mentioned that he was named Honorary Doctor of many universities located in Madrid, New York, Philadelphia and so on.
For merits in the field of culture and art, the performer was awarded several domestic and foreign orders, prizes and medals. He got a personal star on the “Walk of Fame” in Hollywood. Also, the artist was awarded the Order of Friendship, awarded to him by the President of the Russian Federation as part of the development of Spanish-Russian relations in the field of musical art.
Other tenor promotions and prizes include the Grammy Awards. Placido Domingo was rewarded in the categories: “Soloist of the best opera recording”, “Best Latin performance” and “Best classical vocal performance”. His most significant arias were compositions from the operas Aida, Carmen, Bohemia, La Traviata, Woman without a Shadow, as well as independent solos such as Forever in My Heart and others.
It is estimated that Placido Domingo was awarded the Golden Gramophone nine times in his life. And this, of course, is not the limit.