Dialogue: Maha Adel
Placido Domingo, despite his eighty years of age, is the icon of operatic singing in the world, the owner of the title “King of the Opera” and who has gone through a long journey of creativity and excellence that exceeds half a century of fame, as he is the tenor, the highest male singing voice, Who sang on the most famous theaters in the world, and he was born in Spain in 1941. His voice is characterized by diversity and strength.
Domingo is one of three called “the greats of the tenor”, and considered to be the greatest to take to the stage during the twentieth century, along with his two other colleagues, namely Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras. Behind the scenes of the “Dresden Ball Opera” concert at Dubai Opera, “The Gulf” is unique in meeting with him.
Domingo describes his feelings about his return to Dubai Opera, after an absence of 6 years, saying: “I have a feeling of nostalgia for the place where I witnessed his birth and stood on his stage to celebrate its opening, and I was very happy to return to the oldest shows in Dubai again, and face its conscious multicultural audience. I feel doubly happy and proud to witness this urban and cultural growth in the country, and in the center of this vibrant city, we see the amazing amount of flourishing music and the artistic climate in general, and this is a wonderful development, which was implemented in a short period of time in the lives of peoples; But this is Dubai, which offers the world a unique model of growth and prosperity in all fields.
Placido thinks back to 2016 and recalls his experience singing for the Dubai audience at the opening of the opera: “I remember very well that it was an enjoyable experience in my life; Where it witnessed a large presence of the multinational audience, and the local population joined an audience from all over the world, to attend the ceremony and celebrate a new artistic edifice added to the balance of its achievements. And the media clamor that was reported by the international media about the activities of the opening celebration, whose organization was amazing and luxurious, and I remember that it was an exciting evening and entrenched in my memory.
And about his experience singing at the Dresden Opera, he says: “I was pleased to accept this invitation, and it was a wonderful occasion for me; To work again with the wonderful Dresden Orchestra is a real privilege; As it is one of the most important orchestras in the world, moreover, I was happy to sing with a wonderful partner on the stage, “soprano Marina Rebecca”, with whom I participated on the stage several times in beautiful productions such as La traviata and Simon Boccanegra. We achieved many successes, and this ceremony is added to the list of my successes and achievements.
He points out his keenness to choose a diverse and popular group of songs for the Dubai audience, such as the opera “Zarzuela”. He also surprised the audience by presenting a famous duet with “Marina Rebecca” to revive and honor my artistic project Operetta and to introduce the audience to it more, and the concert prevailed in an atmosphere full of communication, interaction and positive energy.
Domingo explained his vision of the extent of the development and prosperity of the artistic and cultural climate in Dubai: «Throughout my life, my work took me all over the world and I discovered multiple cultures, and this is a very wonderful aspect of our work, but what makes me most happy, and draws attention to all these travels, is observing the size of the harmony that occurs. At concerts with the audience we perform for, every audience has a character, and we on stage can feel that immediately; But in Dubai, I found a very special spirit, although there is a harmonious and diverse mixture of different cultures, everyone integrates into the local culture, and this is a very special feature, which is difficult to replicate in many countries around the world. More popular than ever, which is what we really need today to breathe new life into art, especially after more than two dark years, due to the epidemic, as I found in it that art, music and opera are not static; Rather, it is constantly evolving.”
And about his experience sharing singing with younger generations, and his feelings about that, he says with a smile: “I can now say that I only perform with young people; Since I will be 82 years old in a little two months, but regardless of joking, the truth is that my participation in singing with young people is wonderful by all accounts. Young people’s participation brings you closer to the new generations, and you derive from them vitality and enthusiasm, and they also benefit from my experience, advice and ability to persevere. And getting close to new generations with the art of opera and theater is important to me, because it enables me to discover new talents, and it also encourages me to stay young.
And he continues: What I am most proud of in my life, and one of the greatest things that satisfy my career, is the launch of my artistic project for the year 1996, which is the prestigious “Operalia” international competition for operatic singing, which will celebrate next year the 30th anniversary of its establishment, as it is my way to discover new youth talents in the field of Opera singing and their care for pumping new blood and continuous creations for this ancient art, to which I am very proud of my belonging, and despite my optimism about the abundance of opera singers, but I am confident that “the audience is the one who decides who will be Pavarotti, Carreras and Domingo tomorrow,” and I do my best to ensure the presence of creative generations that carry the banner Opera singing after the three of us, and I’m lucky to be one of them.