Plácido Domingo

Biography

An eclectic artist of worldwide renown. Regarded as one of the greatest opera singers of our time, Domingo is also a conductor and has been Honorary Artistic Director of the Arena di Verona Centennial Festival and General Manager of the Los Angeles and Washington Operas.

His repertoire includes over 150 roles, an achievement unparalleled by any other singer, with over 4,000 performances. He has made over hundred recordings, over 50 videos and won 12 Grammy Awards. He has starred in three famous film operas: Carmen by Rosi, La Traviata and Otello by Zeffirelli. His Cavaradossi, which was watched by millions of people live on television from Rome, in the places and at the times of Tosca, is considered historic. He explores the dialogue between bel canto and pop. Since 1990 he performed for over ten years with Carreras and Pavarotti in front of huge crowds and attracted new audiences to the opera. He interpreted the world premieres of several operas and promoted Zarzuela in the world following in his parents’ footsteps.

Since 1993 he has chaired the prestigious international singing competition Operalia, of which he is also the founder, to discover and promote young singers.

In addition to singing, he also performs as a conductor. He has given over 500 opera performances and symphony concerts with some of the most prestigious orchestras. Since 2009, he dedicated himself to interpreting the great roles of the baritone repertoire, especially Verdi.

In 2021, he was nominated “Ambassador of Spanish Culture in the World” and awarded by the Spanish Association of Foreign Press Correspondents “for his immense professional trajectory”. By critics he is referred to as a “Renaissance man” and receives numerous awards for his contribution to the arts and his humanitarian commitment, including The Presidential Medal of Freedom, Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur, Honorary Knighthood, Orden del Águila Azteca in Mexico, Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil Isabel la Católica and received honorary degrees from the Universities of Oxford, Harvard, New York and Salamanca, CC Forum Award.
In the summer of 2020, fully recovered from COVID, he was awarded the Österreichischer Musiktheaterpreis 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award in Salzburg and returned onstage to perform at the Reggia di Caserta (Naples). In December 2020, he participates in the season opening of Teatro alla Scala and in January 2021 celebrates his 80th birthday singing Nabucco on the stage of the Vienna State Opera broadcasted by ORF.

His extraordinary artistic career has continued uninterruptedly for over half a century in the most prestigious theatres of the words including Bolshoi Theatre where he has a wonderful collaboration singing and conducting and the Moscow public always welcomes him with great enthusiasm.

Photo: Kaori Suzuki