By Kiesly Jameson
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) 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.
Domingo has also achieved significant success as a crossover artist, especially in the genres of Latin and popular music. In addition to winning fourteen Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, several of his records have gone silver, gold, platinum and multi-platinum. His first pop album, Perhaps Love (1981), spread his fame beyond the opera world. The title song, performed as a duet with country and folk singer John Denver, has sold almost four million copies and helped lead to numerous television appearances for the tenor. He also starred in many cinematically released and televised opera movies, particularly under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli. In 1990, he began singing with fellow tenors Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras as part of The Three Tenors. The first Three Tenors recording became the best-selling classical album of all time.
Growing up working in his parents’ zarzuela company in Mexico, Domingo has since regularly promoted this form of Spanish opera. He also increasingly conducts operas and concerts and was the general director of the Los Angeles Opera in California from 2017 to 2019. He was initially the artistic director and later general director of the Washington National Opera from 1996 to 2011. He has been involved in numerous humanitarian works, as well as efforts to help young opera singers, including starting and running the international singing competition, Operalia. In the years 2019–2021 he has performed continuously on stages in Berlin, Budapest, Cologne, Graz, Madrid, Mérida, Milan, Monte Carlo, Moscow, Munich, Palermo, Rome, Salzburg, Sofia, Verona, Versailles, Vienna and Zurich.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
My compost pile smells terrible, even in winter. What can I do to get rid of the odor?
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Bilge
Puzzle of the Day
How could the letter G surprise a farmer?
Born
- Ethan Allen (patriot) –
- John Fitch (inventor) –
- Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (Confederate Army general) –
- Christian Dior (fashion designer) –
- Jack Nicklaus (golfer) –
- Plácido Domingo (tenor) –
- Billy Ocean (singer) –
- Robby Benson (actor) –
- Geena Davis (actress) –
- Hakeem Olajuwon (basketball player) –
- Jacob Smith (actor) –
Died
- Calixa Lavallée (composer) –
- George Orwell (author) –
- Cecil B. DeMille (director) –
- James Beard (chef & food writer) –
- Jack Lord (actor) –
- Peggy Lee (singer) –
- Terry Jones (member of the Monty Python comedy troupe) –
Events
- First American novel, The Power of Sympathy, published in Boston. –
- Louis XVI of France was beheaded –
- New York City’s Sullivan Ordinance made it illegal for women to smoke in public places –
- Kiwanis International founded –
- Song Over the Rainbow, by Arlen and Harburg, copyrighted –
- First commercial extraction of magnesium from seawater began, in Freeport, Texas –
- U.S.S. Nautilus, world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, was launched –
- President Jimmy Carter issued a pardon for Vietnam War draft evaders –
- Pittsburgh Steelers won their third Super Bowl –
- Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame –
Weather
- Sacramento, California, had a high of only 19 degrees F –
- Deadly avalanche occurred at Twin Lakes in Colorado –
- Caesars Head, South Carolina, experienced a cold temperature of -19 degrees F –
- As much as 3.5 inches of snow fell in Tokyo, Japan –
- A 3-day, 81-tornado outbreak in the Southeast United States began –
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