Placido Domingo was born in Madrid and grew up in Mexico. After studying both voice and piano at the Mexico City Conservatory, he made his operatic debut in Monterrey as Alfredo in La traviata. He then spent two years with the Israel National Opera, where he sang over 280 performances of 12 different roles. In 1966 he created the title role in the United States premiere of Ginastera's Don Rodrigo at the Lincoln Centre, home of New York City Opera, in addition to appearing there in standard repertoire. His debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, came in 1968, as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur. He has subsequently appeared there in more than 300 performances of 30 different roles, in 23 consecutive seasons. In 1969 he made his debuts at La Scala and Covent Garden - at the latter appearing as Cavaradossi in Tosca. He has sung at all the world's major opera houses, including those in Vienna, San Francisco, Hamburg, Munich, Paris, London, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Chicago and Tokyo, and has appeared at many festivals including Verona, Salzburg and Edinburgh. Domingo made his Bayreuth Festival debut in the summer of 1992.

Domingo has made many live broadcasts from Opera Houses around the world. These include La traviata, I Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana, Les Troyens, Francesca da Rimini, Turandot, Aida and Don Carlo, all from The Met, New York; joint concerts with Kiri Te Kanawa and Agnes Baltsa; Samson et Dalila from the San Francisco Opera and Les Contes D'Hoffmann and Don Carlos from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Domingo also has the distinction of being the first classical artist to have had a solo concert in Central Park.

 

Placido Domingo also pursues a conducting career and has conducted many times in opera houses around the world. He made his USA conducting debut in the 1973/74 season at the New York City Opera with La traviata. His other opera performances from the podium include Tosca at the New York City Opera; La Bohème, Romeo and Juliet, Carmen and Tosca at The Metropolitan, New York; Die Fledermaus and Macbeth at the Vienna State Opera and at Covent Garden; Il barbiere di Siviglia in San Francisco; Tosca and Macbeth in Los Angeles; Il trovatore and Aida in Hamburg and La forza del destino and Die Fledermaus in Munich. For EMI Classics, Domingo has conducted Die Fledermaus, in which he himself sang the part of Alfredo and was joined by Agnes Baltsa, Lucia Popp, Kurt Rydl and Peter Seiffert. Domingo has also led The London Philharmonic on a tour of Spain in purely orchestral repertoire and has conducted the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in Vienna.

 

Domingo's EMI Classics discography currently includes Boito's Mefistofele, Gounod's Faust, Puccini's Tosca, Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila, and Verdi's Aida, Un ballo in maschera, Don Carlos, Ernani, La forza del destino, Giovanna d'Arco and Otello. In 1984 Placido Domingo recorded Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem, with Sarah Brightman. The New York premiere of this work, conducted by Lorin Maazel, has been broadcast throughout the world. In 1986 EMI Classics released the soundtrack of the Zeffirelli film of Otello, in which Domingo starred with Katia Ricciarelli and Justino Diaz under the musical direction of Lorin Maazel. An EMI Classics album of arias from Viennese operetta, Vienna, City of my Dreams, was conducted by Julius Rudel, and an album of popular songs, Be My Love, released in 1990, has sold more than one million copies worldwide.

The album of Zarzuela arias released in the summer of 1988 showed Placido Domingo returning to his musical roots, since his parents were specialists in the genre. September 1989 saw the release of a live concert album recorded at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden at two concerts in June/July 1988: Cheryl Studer, Eva Randova and Thomas Allen appeared with Domingo in arias and duets. Under a contract with EMI Classics, signed in 1989, Placido Domingo has undertaken a number of recital recordings, the first of which, Roman Heroes, was released in Autumn 1990. Together, a recital tribute to John McCormack and Fritz Kreisler recorded with Itzhak Perlman, was released in Autumn 1991 as was a Mozart Arias album with Carol Vaness and the Münchner Rundfunkorchester conducted by Eugene Kohn. October 1992 saw the release of Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila, an EMI France recording with Myung-Whun Chung and L'Opéra de Paris-Bastille, in which Domingo takes the role of Samson.

 

In June 1993 at All Saints Church, London, Placido Domingo conducted The Philharmonia Orchestra in a recording of Tchaikovsky's most popular repertoire. This EMI Classics disc, released in November 1993, features the 1812 Overture, Romeo and Juliet and Capriccio Italien. Domingo also sings on two tracks: Lensky's Aria from Eugene Onegin, and None but the lonely heart. In a second November 1993 release, Domingo sings popular opera arias by Verdi, Mozart, Puccini, Handel, Boito, Meyerbeer, Mascagni and Gounod. This disc, Opera Classics, is a celebration of Domingo's extensive repertory on EMI Classics.

 

Placido Domingo remains in demand as one of the world's best loved and respected performing artists. Domingo's first recording of popular Latin American songs, De mi alma latina - From my Latin soul, was released in August 1994. Inspired by his lifelong love of Latin American music, this ground-breaking album has been a huge hit with his followers, and has already sold over one million copies worldwide. A second volume of Latin songs was released in May 1997. Domingo has also recorded an album of famous solos and ensembles from the opera, joined by soprano Ruth Ann Swenson and baritone Thomas Hampson, the album, Opera Gala, was released in November 1996. In 1996 Placido Domingo celebrated 25 years of performing at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with a special gala concert on December 12. The event was recorded live by EMI Classics, and released under the title Gold and Silver Gala in March 1997. September saw the EMI Classics release of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez starring the guitarist Manuel Barrueco, together with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Placido Domingo. The disc also includes four previously unrecorded songs performed by Domingo with Barrueco accompanying on guitar and is a fascinating collaboration between two Spanish-speaking artists.

 

He has since conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra in a recital disc of opera arias with Leontina Vaduva, which was released in May 1998. Domingo’s most recent recording is 100 Years of Mariachi which was released in October 1999 – an album of traditional and passionate mariachi songs from Mexico which was awarded a Grammy in February 2000 for best American / Mexican music. He is releasing Wagner Love Duets in July 2000, which is a collaboration with Deborah Voigt presenting some of opera’s greatest and most passionate love scenes including the re-discovered concert ending for the Act 2 love duet from Tristan und Isolde, never performed or recorded before.


In July 2000, EMI Classics will celebrate 30 years of EMI Classics’ collaboration with Placido Domingo by releasing a special box-set entitled ‘30 Years with EMI’. The release will contain thirteen complete operas including Faust, Manon Lescaut, Tosca, Die Fledermaus, Don Carlos, Otello, Mefistofele, Aida, Giovanna D’Arco, La Forza del Destino as well as a single CD of 10 Operetta Arias entitled, Vienna, City of my Dreams. A single compilation CD called Songs of Love will be released in October 2000. The recording is made up of tracks taken from Placido Domingo’s best selling albums De mi alma latina (From My Latin Soul) volumes 1 & 2 and Be My Love.

 


July 2000

 

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