Placido Domingo
Biography
Born in 1941 in Madrid, his family moved to Mexico when he was eight. He began his musical education studying piano, composition and conducting at the National Conservatory in Mexico City.
From the age of 16 he also took roles in his parents’ zarzuela company, where he laid the foundations for his solid sense of stagecraft.
He married at 16 and became a father at 17, but the marriage didn't last. To support his family he took on a variety of jobs, such as playing the piano in bars. He was given small tenor roles at the Mexican National Opera and even landed a part in the first Mexican production of My Fair Lady.
In 1962 he married his current wife, the soprano Marta Ornelas, and they moved to Israel to join the Hebrew National Opera. It was here that his real career began - he has said that his two and a half years in Tel Aviv, constantly learning new roles and perfecting his technique, was worth 10 years of training elsewhere.
Music
Once he left Israel, his career rapidly took off. The New York City Opera gave him the lead role in the world premiere of 'Don Rodrigo' by Alberto Ginastera in 1966, and within two years he had sung at the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and La Scala, Milan. He made his Covent Garden debut in 1971.
Domingo holds the record for the highest number of curtain calls ever: he took 101 at the Vienna State Opera in 1991 after a performance of Otello.
Since his debut conducting La Traviata at New York City Opera in 1973, his conducting career has gone from strength to strength.
In recent years Domingo has taken on some of the greatest challenges in the heroic tenor repertoire including Siegmund and Siegfried in the 'Ring cycle and Parsifal' and the role known as the tenor’s Everest: Tristan in Wagner’s 'Tristan und Isolde'.
Placido Domingo on Classic FM
Listen to Placido Domingo on the Classic FM Magazine show.
Discography
Domingo has recorded an extensive number of works. See the full discography here
