Plácido Domingo
An internationally celebrated and versatile artist, Plácido Domingo is regarded as one of the finest opera singers of all time. He is also an accomplished conductor and currently serves as the honorary artistic director of the Arena di Verona Opera Festival, as well as general director of both the Los Angeles and Washington National Operas.
His repertoire includes a record-breaking 151 roles and more than 4,050 performances. He made his debut at the Arena di Verona in 1969 in Turandot, and a few months later opened the season at Teatro alla Scala in Milan with Ernani. Over his career, he has made more than 100 recordings, received 12 Grammy Awards, and appeared in over 50 opera films and videos. He starred in three major opera films: Carmen (dir. F. Rosi), La traviata, and Otello (both directed by F. Zeffirelli). Over one billion people watched him as Cavaradossi in Tosca, broadcast live from the actual Roman locations of the opera.
From 1990, for more than a decade, he performed alongside José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti as one of The Three Tenors, helping to bring opera to a new global audience. In 1993, he founded and has since presided over the prestigious Operalia singing competition. He has premiered several new operas, including Goya by Menotti and Il Postino by Catán.
Domingo is also an accomplished conductor, having led over 500 opera and symphonic performances with the world’s top orchestras. He recently made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival conducting Wagner’s Die Walküre.
In recent years, he has increasingly focused on key baritone roles, especially those by Verdi, such as Simon Boccanegra, I due Foscari, La traviata, Nabucco, Il trovatore, Giovanna d’Arco, Macbeth, Ernani, Don Carlo, Luisa Miller, Thaïs, and Gianni Schicchi. In 2017, he returned to the tenor repertoire in the title role of Tamerlano at Teatro alla Scala.
Following his lifetime achievement award from the Österreichischer Musiktheaterpreis in Salzburg (2020), he gave acclaimed gala performances at the Reggia di Caserta and the Arena di Verona, both as singer and conductor. His recent successes include Simon Boccanegra at the Vienna State Opera, Nabucco at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and receiving the CC Forum Award for philanthropic work in Monte Carlo. He also conducted Manon Lescaut and sang at a gala at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. In December 2020, he performed I due Foscari in Monte Carlo, appeared on the opening night of the 2020/2021 season at Teatro alla Scala, and sang Nabucco at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg under Valery Gergiev.
