Dialogue: Maha Adel
Placido Domingo, despite his eighty years, is the icon of opera singing in the world, holder of the title of “King of the Opera” and who has traveled a long path of creativity and excellence that exceeds half a century of fame, as is the tenor, the highest male singing voice, who has sung in the most famous theaters in the world, and was born in Spain in 1941. His voice is characterized by diversity and strength.
Domingo is one of the three called “the greats of the tenor”, and considered the greatest to take the stage during the 20th century, together with two of his other colleagues, namely Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras. Behind the scenes of the ‘Dresden Ball Opera’ concert at the Dubai Opera, ‘The Gulf’ is unique in meeting him.
Domingo describes his feelings about his return to the Dubai Opera after an absence of 6 years, saying: “I have a feeling of nostalgia for the place where I witnessed his birth and went up to his stage to celebrate the its opening, and I was very happy to once again return to Dubai’s oldest shows and address its multicultural and knowledgeable 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 incredible amount of thriving music and the general artistic climate, and this is a wonderful development, which has been implemented in a short span of time in peoples life; 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 a pleasant experience in my life; Where it saw a large multinational public presence, and the local population joined an audience from all over the world, to attend the ceremony and celebrate a new artistic building that added to the balance of its achievements. the international media about the activities of the opening celebration, the organization of which was extraordinary and luxurious, and I remember that it was an exciting evening and rooted in my memory.
And about her experience singing at the Dresden Opera, she says: “I gladly accepted this invitation, and it was a wonderful occasion for me; To work again with the wonderful Dresden Orchestra is a real privilege; Furthermore, being one of the most important orchestras in the world, I was happy to sing with a splendid partner on stage, the “soprano Marina Rebecca”, with whom I participated several times on stage in beautiful productions such as La traviata and Simone Boccanegra. We have achieved many successes and this ceremony adds to the list of my successes and achievements.
He emphasizes his desire to choose a diverse and popular set of songs for the Dubai audience, such as the opera ‘Zarzuela’. She also surprised the audience by presenting a famous duet with “Marina Rebecca” to revive and honor my Operetta art project and to introduce it more to the audience, 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 Dubai’s artistic and cultural climate: “Throughout my life, my work has taken me all over the world and I have discovered multiple cultures, and this is a wonderful aspect of our work, but what makes me happiest, and draws attention to all these travels, is observing the dimension of harmony that is created. At concerts with the audience we perform for, each audience has a character, and we on stage can hear it immediately; But in Dubai I found a very special spirit, even though there is a harmonious and diverse blend of different cultures, everyone integrates into the local culture, and this is a very special feature, 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 that art, music and opera they are not static; Rather, it is constantly evolving”.
And about her experience of sharing singing with the younger generation, and her feelings about it, she says with a smile: “Now I can say that I only perform with young people; Given that in two months I will be 82 years old, but regardless of the jokes, the truth is that my participation in singing with young people is in all respects wonderful. The participation of young people brings you closer to the new generations, and you derive from their vitality and enthusiasm, and they also benefit from my experience, my advice and my ability to persevere. And for me it is important to bring the new generations closer to the art of opera and theater, because it allows me to discover new talents, and encourages me too to stay young.
And he continues: What I am most proud of in my life, and one of the biggest things that fulfill my career, is the launch of my artistic project for the year 1996, which is the prestigious international opera singing competition “Operalia” , which will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its foundation next year, as it is my way of discovering new youthful talents in the field of opera singing and their care in pumping new life and continuous creations for this ancient art, of which I am very proud of my membership, and despite my optimism about the abundance of opera singers, but I am confident that “the public is the one who decides who Pavarotti, Carreras and Domingo will be tomorrow”, and I do my best to ensure the presence of creative generations who they carry the banner of the Opera singing after the three of us, and I am lucky to be one of them.
