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by Nicki Gostin
Legendary opera singer Plácido Domingo achieved world renown as one of the Three Tenors alongside the late Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras, but he originally made his debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1968, filling in as Maurizio in "Adriana Lecouvreur" for Franco Corelli. On March 15, the opera company celebrates its 125th anniversary and Domingo's 40th year with the Met with a gala blow-out, during which he will sing the title role in a duet from "Simon Boccanegra," among other arias. NEWSWEEK's Nicki Gostin spoke with the renowned tenor about baseball, whether opera's boring and his new album based on the poetry of Pope John Paul II. Excerpts:
Do you still get butterflies when you go onstage?
There has to be an emotion and an excitement when you perform. When you are performing, the butterflies will never stop.
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Be honest. Are you going to be disappointed if you don't get at least four standing ovations?
Well, you are used more or less to the way the public reacts to you, so it's wonderful, the feeling. All my career I have received that, and at the Met it has been kind of a romance with the public. So much time, so many, many performances, singing and conducting, so really it's very emotional for me. So yes, of course I will feel disappointed.
Do you watch baseball?
I love baseball.
So you know how a team names a player an MVP. I think you are the MVP for the Met.
That's beautiful! I love this!
Did you play baseball?
I played first base. I was not so great at hitting, but I was good at fielding.
Your voice is your livelihood. Do you get crazy around wintertime, when germs are everywhere? Do you shake people's hands?
We are all exposed to bad weather and colds. I shake people's hands. I take the flu shot. I think it protects you.
You sing in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Russian. Does it ever get confusing?
No, I'm a little bit better in some languages than others. I also like it when I go to China; I put something in the concert in Chinese, same in Japan and Portugal. I have sung in Finnish.
You work with the L.A. and Washington Opera Houses. Opera audiences are usually seen as older and richer. How do you attract a younger audience?
We have tremendous education plans in both cities. We have special performances for children. They come to hear full-length operas with orchestras.
What do you say to people who say that opera is boring?
Well, I don't think it's boring.
Of course you don't think it's boring!
But let me tell you, you are right. There is nothing better than a great opera performance, but there's nothing worse than a bad opera performance. Of course, opera is very far from the pop music, but we also don't get the chance to be in front of the public. Opera is very expensive. Like to go to the Met Opera, the best tickets are almost $300 each, then parking plus dinner. It's a lot of money. But now the Met has cheaper tickets, and you see the house gets full. Sometimes in Washington or L.A., we miscalculate and we put on an extra performance, and it's not selling as well as we thought. We make special prices between $20 and $25, and it sells out immediately. So it means that if there were possibilities for better prices, a lot more people would be able to go.
Everyone knows about opera divas. Do male opera singers ever act like divas?
Well, most of us are very normal people. This is fortunately disappearing. Of course there are still a few divas, but very little.
You have an album coming out of songs inspired by the poetry of Pope John Paul II.
Yes, once I sang one of his poems, and I thought, "Whoa, there's got to be more here." I researched his poems, and here is what I think is an exciting album. Before he became a priest, he was a swimmer, a skier, he played football. He was an actor and he wrote poetry. We select songs, one that is about liberty, one is about a worker. It's very much also a political side of him. Not many people know about his poetry.
Do you think about retiring?
I do not wish to to sing one day longer than I should but also not one day less than I could.
Are you scared of singing after your voice goes?
No, that cannot be done. You have to do it when you can.
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