Placido Domingo (Madrid, 1941) He is one of the greatest lyrical artists in the history of opera.He was born into a family of opera singers and began his artistic career in Mexico, where he grew up and trained as a singer and actor. He found his own expressive language in music and achieved several personal records in terms of operatic repertoire, such as the interpretation of 151 different roles, both tenor and baritone. More than any other singer in the history of opera.
He has performed on the most important stages in the world and has been part of multiple recording projects and mass shows. Without a doubt, he can be considered a true living legend.Is We owe him a lot and the Russian soprano has acknowledged this Aida Garifullinawinner of the international Operalia competition in 2013, saying that Plácido Domingo deserves “the appreciation and love” of Spain and the whole world because he has given them “a lot”. She hopes that the figure of the tenor will remain above the harassment allegations poured over him.
“He is a very noble man, in my experience with him and from what I have heard from other close people who have worked or who are friends of his, he has always been a very, very gentle man (…) Despite everything, he continues to represent Spain around the world. And it will remain in history forever”Garifullina added in an interview with Europa Press on the occasion of his performance at the Santander Festival on August 3.
a very big heart
The Spanish tenor was a key judge in the soprano’s victory in the Operalia competition in 2013. Garifullina believes that it is something that he will remember all his life and extends that same gratitude to “other colleagues” of the contest because he “supported and helped” them become artists. “Plácido Domingo has played and continues to play a great role in my life, in my career. I will be very grateful to this incredible human being all my life. He gave me the opportunity to become who I am now, to be where I am now and for my dreams to come true. He is an incredible person. Not only is he one of the best in the music industry, in the history of opera, he is also a very deep and beautiful soul. He has a very big heart,” she said.
In 2014, Domingo accompanied Garifullina, 36, to his hometown of Kazan, Russia, for his first concert there. Ten years later he still evokes the moment as something “magical and historic”, both for the soprano and for the citizens of Kazan: “We did a concert in my hometown because my people in Kazan dreamed of Plácido Domingo. He had never come before, and when he came it was a great joy for them. They still remind me of him and it’s been ten years since 2014. They remember him and keep coming to me to say ‘thank you, thank you, thank you very much’. It was a magical and historic moment. He is such a gentle man.”
The artist, who values Spanish opera culture for its brilliance and the beauty and warmth of its audience, She will return to Spain after performing Romeo and Juliet at the Liceu Theatre in Barcelona in 2018. Performing at the opening concert of the Santander Festival in August is “a gift” for her and she has announced that she hopes to include something in Spanish in her repertoire. Most of them will be arias that are not often performed around the world. “But they are real gifts and I hope the public will enjoy it. It is a programme that is not very well known in the world, but very famous in my country, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The composers are well known, of course, but these particular pieces are not played much in opera houses. Not like Italian or French operas. That’s why I think it’s even more interesting for the public to listen to it. Because we always want to discover something new, right? So we don’t hear all the same opera arias at every concert“, she explained in her interview with the agency. “I want to feel the pain of the character and get all the possible sensations and emotions out of my performance,” she concludes.
