Plácido Domingo

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Lore & Background

Plácido Domingo was born on 21 January 1941 in the Retiro district of Madrid, Spain, to Pepita Embil and Plácido Domingo Ferrer. His mother recalled that she and her husband knew he would be a musician from the age of five, due to his ability to hum complex music from a zarzuela after seeing a performance of it. In 1949, just days before his eighth birthday, he moved to Mexico with his family. His parents, both singers, had decided to start a zarzuela company there after a successful tour of Latin America. Soon after arriving in Mexico, Domingo won a singing contest for boys, and his parents occasionally recruited him and his sister for children's roles in their zarzuela productions. Domingo studied piano from a young age, at first privately and later at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City, which he entered when he was fourteen. At the conservatory, he also attended conducting classes taught by Igor Markevitch and studied voice under Carlo Morelli. Domingo's conservatory classes constituted the entirety of his formal vocal instruction; he never studied privately with a singing teacher. In 1957, at age sixteen, Domingo made his first professional appearance, accompanying his mother on the piano at a concert at Mérida, Yucatán. The same year he made his major zarzuela debut in Manuel Fernández Caballero's Gigantes y cabezudos, singing a baritone role. The following year, the tenor in another company's touring production of Luisa Fernanda fell ill. In his first performance as a tenor, Domingo replaced the ailing singer, although he feared the part's tessitura was too high for him. In 1959, Domingo auditioned for the Mexico National Opera at the Palacio de Bellas Artes as a baritone, but was then asked to sight-read the tenor aria 'Amor ti vieta' from Fedora. He was accepted at the National Opera as a tenor comprimario and as a tutor for other singers. In what he considered his operatic debut, Domingo sang the minor role of Borsa in Verdi's Rigoletto on 23 September at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. He made his debut in Verdi's Otello at Bellas Artes at age 21 in the summer of 1962 not in the title rôle but in the small comprimario part of Cassio.

Reader's Guide

Plácido Domingo's significance lies in his extraordinary versatility and longevity as a performer, having sung 151 different roles as of 2020. He began his career in zarzuela and baritone roles before transitioning to tenor, becoming particularly acclaimed as Otello. In the early 2010s, he moved back to baritone parts. His crossover success, especially with the album Perhaps Love (1981) and as a member of The Three Tenors, brought opera to a global audience; the first Three Tenors recording became the best-selling classical album of all time. Domingo also served as general director of the Los Angeles Opera from 2003 to 2019 and as artistic director and later general director of the Washington National Opera from 1996 to 2011. He founded the international singing competition Operalia and has been involved in numerous humanitarian works. His career has been marked by continuous performance on stages worldwide, including in Berlin, Budapest, Cologne, Graz, Madrid, Mérida, Milan, Monte Carlo, Moscow, Munich, Palermo, Rome, Salzburg, Sofia, Verona, Versailles, Vienna and Zurich since 2019.

Did You Know?

• As of 2020, Domingo has performed 151 different roles.
• His first pop album, Perhaps Love (1981), featured a duet with John Denver that sold almost four million copies.
• He made his operatic debut in the minor role of Borsa in Verdi's Rigoletto on 23 September 1959.
• Domingo never studied privately with a singing teacher; his formal vocal instruction was limited to conservatory classes.
• He opened the season at the Metropolitan Opera 21 times, more than any other singer, surpassing Enrico Caruso's record by four.