Placido returns to operatic roots in Liceu Theatre

26 January 2005

BARCELONA- With his distinguished career nearing its curtain call, Placido Domingo has decided to return to his roots.

The 64-year-old tenor will take the stage as Wagner’s Parsifal in the Liceu Theatre in Barcelona on Friday, his first operatic role for 15 years in the theatre he considers home, the British daily The Guardian reports.

This year he will be singing in the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden in London and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

He is also now artistic director of both the Washington National Opera and Los Angeles Opera.

But the Liceu remains a special place. “This was my theatre,” he said this week. “Between 1972 and 1982 I lived here, and my children grew up here. We always did an opera at Christmas so that we could all be together, and for this reason, Barcelona and the Liceu are part of my history.”

The Liceu production will challenge some Wagner fans’ expectations by departing from the composer’s plot. Some will be surprised by the death of Amfortus, leader of the Knights of the Holy Grail. But Domingo is confident audiences will approve of the changes.

This production could also be Domingo’s last appearance on the Liceu stage. He says he has at most five years left as a singer.

“I’m still in good shape,” he said. “But the rehearsals get harder all the time. One day I had to climb in and out of my armour four separate times.”

[Copyright Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news