Placido Domingo

Spanish tenor Placido Domingo will give a free, open-air concert in Mexico City next month to celebrate Christmas, city authorities said Monday. Domingo, 68, will sing December 19 at the iconic Angel of Independence monument on Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, the mayor's office said in a statement. It will be his first free concert in Mexico, his son Alvaro Domingo told El Universal daily. The world-famous tenor spent part of his childhood and launched his musical career in Mexico. It will be his first visit to the capital in seven years. Alvaro said his father, who now directs the Washington National Opera and ... Read Full Story

The notes were all there. The voice had its familiar warm and muscular sound. The technique remains rock-solid. And yet ... It seems that no amount of hard work or willpower could transform Placido Domingo into the baritone for whom Verdi wrote the title role of his opera "Simon Boccanegra." That gradually became apparent on Saturday night as the legendary tenor realized a long-held dream by singing his first-ever performance as the 14th century Doge of Genoa in a new production at Berlin's Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Despite his determined efforts to darken his tone and give added weight to the lower register, there's ... Read Full Story

Spanish tenor Placido Domingo on Tuesday received the first Birgit Nilsson prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, and said it was like winning the "Nobel prize of music." The million-dollar (675,000-euro) prize founded by the legendary Swedish soprano was handed over in a ceremony at Stockholm's Royal Opera house. "This is comparable to the Nobel prize of music," Domingo said afterwards, adding that he had won many awards in his long career but this was "without hesitation the highest and the most emotional." The Swedish soprano had before her death in 2005 secretly chosen Domingo to be the first winner of her opera ... Read Full Story

Spanish tenor Placido Domingo on Tuesday received the first ever $1 million dollar Birgit Nilsson award at a formal award ceremony in Stockholm. Domingo, who won the prize for his "unrivaled" contributions to the world of opera, accepted the award from King Carl XVI Gustaf at the Royal Swedish Opera. Late Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson chose Domingo as the inaugural winner of the prize nearly a decade ago, demanding the name would be kept secret until after her death. She died at age 87 on Dec. 25, 2005. During the award ceremony, Domingo said he would use the prize money to set up a ... Read Full Story

Washingtonians out for a recent night at the opera left their tux-and-tails at home, instead donning tee shirts and visored caps for a performance screened gratis at the city's main baseball stadium. "Opera in the Outfield", sponsored by the Washington National Opera company last weekend, offered thousands of area residents an evening of classical music in the decidedly informal setting of a baseball stadium -- including many who had had no prior experience of opera. An audience of some 2,000 opera lovers attended the Washington National Opera's opening night of its production of "The Barber of Seville" at the elegant Kennedy Center for the ... Read Full Story