Thanks to a powerful, colorful and timbre-unusual male voice, he quickly won the title of a legend in the Spanish opera scene.
Placido Domingo is one of the brightest representatives of artists, gifted from birth with unsurpassed charisma, unique talent and exorbitant work capacity.
Childhood and the beginning of the formation of Placido Domingo
On January 21, 1941, in Madrid (Spain), a son was born to the family of Placido Domingo Sr. and Pepita Embil, artists of the Spanish zarzuella (one of the varieties of classical operetta), who was named José Placido Domingo Embil.
In the future, the long name of the popular young man had to be halved, as it was inconvenient to pronounce and print on numerous posters.
It is not surprising that a gifted boy was born to a talented and popular family. The father was famous for his perfect baritone, and the mother for her extraordinary soprano and amazing appearance, which was genetically transmitted to her son.
When the boy was 7 years old, his parents decided to move to Mexico City.
Life in Mexico turned out to be fruitful - the family organized their own theater troupe, with which they created musical numbers.
In addition, the future opera singer studied the basics of bullfighting, conducting and playing the piano, to the accompaniment of which his mother performed.
Only at the age of 16 did he begin to perform in the family troupe as a solo singer, performing numerous musical numbers. He was also seen as a conductor in the choir of the Spanish Zarzuella Theatre.
In addition, Placido Domingo Jr. was an ardent fan of sports, namely football. He played in competitive matches for the school team, but music and art still won.
At the age of 14, he easily entered the Mexican Conservatory of Music, where he began to rapidly study numerous scores and musical theory.
Career growth Placido Domingo
After several years of study, in 1959 a close friend (the son of an influential Mexican diplomat) arranged for a talented young man to audition at the National Opera.
The jury was organized from prominent representatives of the opera scene and teachers of the conservatory. The singer performed a repertoire of baritone parts, which pleasantly surprised the members of the commission, although some argued that it was better for Domingo Jr. to master the tenor parts and focus on them.
After a request to perform the tenor aria "Love is not forbidden", the singer signed a contract and began his long journey in the career of a legendary opera singer.
On September 23, 1959, at the age of 18, Placido Domingo Jr. made his first debut on the big stage as an opera singer, performing the part of Borsa in Rigoletto.
After this performance, Domingo Jr. began to share the opera stage with its prominent representatives, not inferior to them in terms of voice power and talent power.
A few months after the successful debut, Placido received numerous offers from leading American theaters.
Initially, he joined the troupe of the Dallas Opera House, then agreed to three-month performances at the Israeli theater in Tel Aviv, which helped him train his voice and replenish his own repertoire.
In addition, he worked as a conductor, was engaged in the production and popularization of Mexican music.
In 1966, the New York Opera House invited Plácido Domingo Jr. to join its line-up as performer of all major tenor scores.
After a stunning success at the Metropolitan Opera, the singer became her favorite and one of the main stars of the opera stage for four decades, which broke Caruso's early record.
1970 was a very fruitful year for the singer. Numerous tours in European and American opera houses, the study of new parts, successful performances in a duet with Montserrat Caballe and in the Three Tenors supergroup. All this only increased the worldwide significance of the opera singer.
He loved to work hard, never stopped and took on various projects. Placido Domingo Jr. has 11 Grammy award statuettes, 4 Emmy television awards for authoring and producing musical films, a personal record in the Guinness Book of Records - for a standing ovation after a concert in Vienna, which lasted 1 hour 20 minutes and 101 bows of the singer to the audience .
Personal life
Despite his sultry and attractive appearance, popularity among women, numerous theatrical roles as traitors, hero-lovers and seducers of women's hearts, the singer has been an exemplary family man for many years.
Was married twice. In 1957, he sealed the knot with pianist Anna Maria Guerra.
The marriage broke up after a few months of family life. The former spouses raised their son Jose and still maintain friendly relations.
Placido met his second wife while still a student at the Mexican Conservatory. The beautiful Marta Ornelas was a favorite of teachers, she was predicted to have a long and brilliant career on the opera stage. But the girl in love preferred her family to a star career, devoting herself to her husband and children.
The singer sought the location of a young girl for a long time. He fell asleep with gifts, numerous courtship, sang serenades under her windows, after which the police kicked him out.
Parents were categorically against a relationship with an unpredictable young man, dreaming of a wealthy and serious gentleman for their daughter. Placido did not give up and in 1962 they legalized relations with Marta.
The wife has been a colleague, best friend and support for the singer for 55 years. She supported all his undertakings, was present at all his concerts.
The wife accompanied the artist on long tours. She never loaded the singer with domestic problems, was not jealous of her fans and did not make loud scandals. The couple raised two sons, Placido and Alvaro.
The singer is still a football fan. Attends various charity matches, Real Madrid games. He also performs at various sporting events.
Today
Placido Domingo still continues his singing career. Tours to numerous countries of the world, gathering full halls and stadiums. He has various doctoral degrees from world-renowned conservatories and universities.
The owner of his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, numerous awards and honorary orders, medals. Until recently, he was director of the Los Angeles Opera House. He has a personal page on Instagram, his own website with a poster of upcoming
