For any opera-lover the main news over the last few months has
been the sad death, at age eighty-two, of the great Australian-born
soprano Dame Joan Sutherland and the seventieth birthday of
an equally great singer, the tenor Plácido Domingo. Dame Joan
made her big impact in 1958 in a performance of Donizetti’s
bel canto spectacular Lucia di Lammermoor specially
mounted for her at London’s Royal Opera House. She was thirty-two
and had earned her spurs singing at the house for several years
previously including a minor role in Bellini’s Norma
with Callas in the title role. Like Domingo, hers was a big
spinto-sized voice, with the addition of spectacular coloratura
flexibility. She hung up her vocal chords at the mature age
of sixty-four. Domingo had a more spectacular rise to the top
when in 1967, at age twenty-six, he was invited to audition
for New York’s Metropolitan Opera, debuting a year later. From
then on his career was on a meteoric rise so that by his seventieth
birthday he was not only still singing, but also conducting
and being intendant of opera companies.
Born in Spain in 1941, Domingo spent his early life in
Mexico where his parents, both singers, ran a company that presented
zarzuelas, Spanish light operas, and other musical shows. The
book form of this four disc eulogistic presentation includes
session photos and portraits relating to his EMI recordings
and his career. There is also an informative note in English,
French, German and Spanish as well as a listing of his premiere
performances from 1968 to 2010.
Plácido Domingo was never satisfied with being the lyrico spinto
and Otello of his generation, but spread his vocal interests
widely over a diverse repertoire, culminating in encompassing
a different range in performances of Verdi’s eponymous Simon
Bocanegra (see review)
and Rigoletto in the baritone register. In the meantime,
he clocked up a formidable number and diversity of roles, around
one hundred and thirty or so, but also an unequalled number
of studio recordings of his wide-ranging repertoire. His first
recital disc, in 1968, was made in Berlin for the Teldec label
(see review).
Soon afterwards he signed for RCA who had, for a brief period
alongside him Sherrill Milnes and Montserrat Caballé on their
books as well as Leontyne Price. In between dabbling in surround
sound experiments RCA did take advantage of their singer roster
and several notable recordings, particularly of Verdi, appeared
on that label and involving Plácido. But Domingo’s vocal quality
and voice type was never going to be restricted to one label
and he recorded widely for EMI and DG in particular. In latter
years as studio recordings of opera declined, he even managed
to persuade companies of the virtues of his interpretations
of rarer repertoire. This present eulogistic selection of Domingo’s
recorded legacy for EMI parallels that issued by DG and extends
from a studio recording made in July 1971 of Puccini’s opera
Manon Lescaut (CD 2 tr.3 and CD 3 tr.8) through to the
recordings of La Gioconda (CD 2 tr.8) with the
Bavarian Radio Choir and Orchestra under Marcello Viotti in
July and August 2002 (see review).
It also takes in Domingo’s interpretation of one of the most
demanding heldentenor roles, that of Wagner’s Siegfried
with London’s Royal Opera House forces under Pappano the previous
year. Also included in the collection are a couple of Zarzuela
extracts among those from his complete opera and recital recordings
for EMI. There are some taken from live performances and including
at least one very unusual combination. Last but by no means
least is a disc (CD 4) of what are termed Latin Songs.
These latter items may be new to many opera-lovers, but can
be savoured here for Domingo’s wonderful expressiveness and
ardent singing, qualities that are so much in evidence in the
generally heavier demands of opera.
The collection is presented on the four CDs with the selections
focused on four titles or descriptions. CD 1 is The Heroic
Domingo, CD 2 The Romantic Domingo, and
CD 3 The Great Duets with CD 4 devoted, as noted, to
Latin Songs. There are fewer more heroic roles
than that of Radames in Verdi’s Aida that opens CD1.
It was a role that he recorded a number of times, first for
RCA then this under Muti in 1974 (see review)
with later studio recordings appearing from DG under Abbado
and Sony with Levine. In his interpretation here the lyrical
element of his voice is well in evidence as is the power of
his voice taking the final notes (tr.1). The third excerpt has
him in one of his rare excursions into bel canto, one
he normally eschewed, his voice being a size too large for much
of Donizetti and Bellini. Not so for the role of Pollione in
Norma that featured on a regrettable sonically flawed
RCA recording early in his career and which he never repeated.
Here his burnished heroic tone is near ideal and one can only
regret the lack of a later complete recording (tr.3). Notable
for breadth of repertoire and style is his Fur del mar
from Mozart’s early opera seria Idomeneo (tr.4), an aria
from the composer’s last, Clemenza di Tito (tr.7) and
vigorous in Vani sono I lamenti from Handel’s Giulio
Cesare (tr.5). Less unexpected is his strong characterful
singing of O paradis (tr.8) from Meyerbeer’s L’Africaine,
a role memorably caught on DVD of his San Francisco performances
alongside Shirley Verrett. By the time of this later recording,
1989, he had become the non-pareil Otello of his generation
and the distinct lower-toned hue of his voice compared to his
interpretation of Carlo VII in the recording of Giovanna
d’Arco seventeen years earlier (tr.11) is marked. But, the
highlight for me of this first CD is his Niun mi temi
from act four of Otello. Taken from a live performance
at Covent Garden in 1988 he is at the height of his powers of
interpretation in that demanding role under the baton of the
relatively unknown John Barker. It is here that Domingo’s greatness
among tenors shines brightest. In the final moments of the opera,
the by-now anti-hero, Otello finally realises what he has done
and how Iago has duped him (tr.12). Wagner enthusiasts will
perhaps take me to task for finding his virile heroic tone as
Rienzi (CD 1 tr.13 and Siegfried (tr.14) more to their liking.
The second disc, CD2 has less drama and more romance
as the title implies. Among some surprises is Domingo lightening
his tone for Ottavio’s Il mio tesoro intanto from Mozart’s
Don Giovanni; certainly no wimp this time as he uses
his baritonal qualities to add expression, even threat (tr.6).
His singing of Ferrando’s ardent song of love Un'aura amorosa
del nostro Tesoro from Cosi Fan Tutte, as he and
Guglielmo prepare to go to war, reveals him in his lightest
and most expressive lyrical voice. It was recorded at the same
1981 sessions in Munich. He remains deeply impressive even if
lacking the head voice of many tenors such as Wunderlich in
this role (tr.7). His sympathy for this repertoire is heard
to less good effect in the Portrait Aria from Die
Zauberflöte from ten years later, at the height of his domination
of the singing of Otello (tr.1). It lacks the ideal vocal
mellifluousness with the tenor rather squeezing his tone for
the higher notes. Reading the year-by-year listings of his career
roles (pages 46-53) it does not seem that he ever sang these
lighter Mozart roles on stage. The same is true of both Lehár’s
Paganini and Das Land des Lächelns - more Webster
Booth and Tauber repertoire - although he did sing Danilo in
The Merry Widow in Mexico in the second year (1960) of
his stage career. Despite a rather opulent and resonant recording,
the two Lehár extracts are not without appeal (trs.9-10).
Other contents of CD 2 are more mainstream. Donna non
vidi mai from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, (tr.3),
Recondita armonia from Tosca (tr.4) and Cielo
e mar! from Ponchielli’s La Gioconda (tr.8) show
him at full power and in character as we have come to know and
love his singing. Not to be missed either is his singing in,
to my ears good French, of Quel trouble inconnu me pénčtre
... Salut! Demeure chaste et pure from Faust (tr.2)
and Adieu, Mignon! Courage! and Elle ne croyait pas,
dans sa candeur naďve from Ambroise Thomas’s Mignon
(trs 12-13). The recordings are separated by fourteen years
with Domingo having only a slightly thicker tone in the second
to accompany his ardent and expressive characterisation. More
unusual repertoire for many will be discovered in the two Zarzuela
pieces by Jacinto Guerrero and Federico Moreno Torroba.
It was a genre Domingo grew up with (trs. 14-15).
The most enjoyable of the four discs is CD 3, titled
The great Duets. This may be because the extracts are
often more substantial or perhaps because most are taken from
complete opera recordings. One that that isn’t is the famous
duet Au fond du temple saint from Bizet’s Pearl Fishers.
In this performance Thomas Hampson joins him. If it doesn’t
quite erase from memory that famous recording with Jussi Björling
and Robert Merrill, loved by many listeners to BBC Radio Two’s
yesteryear Your Hundred Best Tunes presented by Alan
Keith on a Sunday evening, it certainly comes nearer than any
other and is in an altogether superior recording sonically (tr.7).
The CD also produces a few surprises. Not least of these is
one of the live recordings from the 1996 Royal Opera House concert
of the duet La ci darem la mano from Mozart’s Don
Giovanni. With Domingo singing the baritone Don and the
lyric mezzo Susan Graham as the lighter-voiced role of Zerlina,
it is a duo with a difference. The tessitura has no difficulty
for either, with Domingo relishing the seductive music of Don
Giovanni’s propositioning of Zerlina (tr.5). The more substantial
Verdi items have the greatest appeal. From that live Covent
Garden occasion the great love duet that ends act one of Otello,
Gia nella notte densa, with Cheryl Studer a womanly Desdemona,
is notable (tr.10). More so are the two all-male friendship
duets. Solenne in quest’ora from La Forza del Destino
conducted by Muti at La Scala, alongside a sonorous Giorgio
Zancanaro vying with that from Giulini‘s Don Carlo with
regular partner Sherrill Milnes matching his tenor for vocal
brio (tr.2). The duet from Wagner’s Tristan with Domingo
alongside Deborah Voigt is also a thrilling choice (tr.9).
I had looked forward to the final disc, CD 4, titled
Latin Songs. It is a complete contrast to what has gone
before and comprises some of the most famous popular songs from
Spain, Mexico, Cuba and the rest of Latin America in, to quote
the advertising blurb, lively modern arrangements. Therein for
me is the first disappointment. The orchestration is over-elaborate
for these somewhat trite items, add excessive reverberation.
I could not help feeling this was a Morris Minor with a Rolls
Royce engine trying to get out and give the whole some ‘oomph’.
Domingo’s skills are wasted although he may well have enjoyed
earning his corn while singing sotto voce for much of
the time. The final item, Agustín Lara’s Granada in front
of an enthusiastic hero-worshipping crowd has a certain excitement
(tr.17).
This diverse collection of Domingo’s recordings from EMI in
a digibook format, with extensive session photos and
repertoire details is good in parts.
Robert J Farr
CDs 1-3: OPERATIC ARIAS AND DUETS.
Vincenzo BELLINI (1801-1835)
Norma
Svanir le voci! [8.36]
Georges BIZET (1838-1870)
Les Pęcheurs de Perles
Au fond du temple saint [7.58]
with Thomas Hampson (baritone)
Georges Charles GOUNOD (1818-1893)
Faust
Quel trouble inconnu me pénčtre... Salut! Demeure chaste et
pure [9.32]
Il se fait tard! Adieu!
with Mirella Freni (soprano)
George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)
Giulio Cesare
Svegliatevi nel core. [4.54]
Franz LEHÁR (1870-1948)
Paganini
Gern hab' ich die Frau'n geküßt. [3.27]
Das Land des Lächelns
Dein ist mein ganzes Herz [3.42]
Pietro MASCAGNI (1863-1945)
L'amico Fritz
Suzel, buon di - Cherry Duet. [8.21]
with Veronica Villarroel. (soprano)
Jules MASSENET(1842-1912)
Le Cid
Ah! Tout est bien fini... O souverain. [4.47]
Giacomo MEYERBEER (1791-1864)
L'Africaine
Pays merveilleux... Ô paradis. [3.07]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Idomeneo
Fuor del mar ho un mar in seno. [4.50]
La Clemenza di Tito
Ah, se fosse intorno al trono
Die Zauberflöte
Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön.
Don Giovanni
Il mio tesoro intanto. [4.03]
La ci darem la mano. [3.12]
with Susan Graham (mezzo)
Cosě fan tutte
Un'aura amorosa del nostro tesoro. [4.07]
Amilcare PONCHIELLI
(1834-1886)
La Gioconda
Cielo e mar! [4.25]
Giacomo PUCCINI (1858-1924)
Manon Lescaut
Donna non vidi mai. [2,25]
Oh, sarň la piů bella...Tu, tu, amore? [8.03]
with Montserrat Caballé (soprano)
Tosca
Recondita armonia.
E lucevan le stelle [3.13]
Mario! Mario! Mario! ...Son qui! ... Mia gelosa! [13.38]
with Renata Scotto (soprano)
La Fanciulla del West
Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano. [1.54]
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Samson et Dalila
Arrętez, ô mes Frčres. [6.15]
Gaspare SPONTINI (1774-1851)
La Vestale
Ohime! Che veggo io mai?... Ah! No, s'io vivo ancora. [4.39]
Johann STRAUSS II (1825-1899)
Eine Nacht in Venedig
Komm in die Gondel [2.47]
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Eugene Onegin
Kuda, Kuda (Lensky's Aria) [6.13]
Ambroise THOMAS (1811-1896)
Mignon
Adieu, Mignon! Courage! [4.52]
Elle ne croyait pas, dans sa candeur naďve. [3.58]
Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Aida
Se quel guerrier io fossi! [4.23]
Macbeth
O figli ... Ah, la paterna mano. [3.35]
Giovanna d'Arco
Il Re!...Sotto una quercia. [5.41]
Otello
Niun mi tema. [5.35]
Giá nella notte densa. [13.38]
with Cheryl Studer (soprano)
Don Carlo
Fontainbleu!…Io la vidi e al suo sorriso. [4.23]
Dio, che nell'alma infondere. [4.58]
with Sherrill Milnes (baritone)
Un ballo in Maschera
Ma se m'č forza perderti. [5.19]
La Forza del Destino
O tu che in seno agli angeli. [3.25]
Solenne in quest'ora. [3.59]
with Giorgio Zancanaro (baritone)
Richard WAGNER (1813-1883)
Rienzi
Allmächt'ger Vater, blick herab! [9.57]
Siegfried
Nothung! Nothung! Neidliches Schwert! [6.21]
Tristan und Isolde
O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe. [5.11]
with Deborah Voigt (soprano)
ZARZUELA EXCERPTS
Jacinto GUERRERO (1895-1951)
Los gavilanes
Fflor roja [3.25]
Federico Moreno TORROBA (1891-1982)
Maravilla
Adios dijiste…Amor, vida de mi vida [3.06]
CD4: LATIN SONGS [77.29]
Aquellos ojos verde [3.49]
La flor de la canela - Due nadie sepa mi sufrir – Remarraditos
[5.01]
Mosotros-Contigo-Sin ti [5.43]
with Anna Gabriel
De México a Buenos Aires [3.06]
Se me olvidó otra vez [3.32]
El Humahuaqueno - Caballo viejo - Moliendo café [4.10]
Delirio Alma Llanera [4.54]
Solamente una vez - Veracruz - Hoche de ronda [5.58]
Manhŕ de carnaval - Aquarela do Brasil [8.17]
Sabrŕs que te quiero [3.28]
Alfonsina y el mar - Gracias a la vida [4.51]
with Patricia Soso
Lamento borincano-Vereda tropical [4.33]
Como ayer [3.34]
Perfidia - Frenesi- La ůltima noche [4.30]
with Pandora
Adiós [3.35]
Por amor - Así como te buscaba - Yo vendo unos ojos negros [3.55]
Granada [3.52]