Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Wikidata P18)
Plácido Domingo
Tenor (lirico-spinto)
Born January 21, 1941 in Madrid, Spanish-Mexican (85 years old)
Opera
José Plácido Domingo Embil is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, German, Spanish, English, and Russian in the most prestigious opera houses in the world. Although primarily a lirico-spinto tenor for most of his career, especially popular for his Cavaradossi, Hoffmann, Don José and Canio, he quickly moved into more dramatic roles, becoming the most acclaimed Otello of his generation. In the early 2010s, he transitioned from the tenor repertory into exclusively baritone parts, including Simon Boccanegra. As of 2020, he has performed 151 different roles.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
8 Signature Roles7 Principal Houses
Spotlight
Career Trajectory
Domingo's career arc traces from his childhood immersion in zarzuela through his emergence as a leading tenor at the Metropolitan Opera and the world's great houses, to his transformation into a global cultural phenomenon via the Three Tenors phenomenon of 1990. His versatility—encompassing lyric and dramatic tenor roles, and later baritone repertoire—combined with his gifts as a conductor and administrator, established him as opera's most complete artist of his generation. Now in his ninth decade, he remains an iconic figure whose influence extends across performance, mentorship, and the institutional stewardship of opera itself.
Career Highlight
Co-founder of the Three Tenors (with Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras, 1990), whose inaugural concert became the best-selling classical album of all time, introducing millions to opera worldwide
Training & Education
National Conservatory of Music, Mexico City (piano, conducting, voice); Honorary Doctorate, Oxford University; Distinguished Professor and Honorary Doctor, Shanghai Conservatory of Music (2022)
Engagements
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Available Performances
Additional recordings will appear here as the catalog expands.