Domingo celebrates 40 years at Covent Garden
28 October 2011, London, UK
Plácido Domingo as Simon Boccanegra at the Royal Opera House(Photo: Catherine Ashmore)
Review by Francis Muzzu
After 230 performances of 26 roles with the Royal Opera, you could excuse Plácido Domingo for resting on his laurels. But at a performance yesterday marking the opera superstar’s fortieth anniversary with the company, he added yet another role to this list, singing the title role in Act 3 of Rigoletto.
The evening started with Act 4 of Otello, where Domingo’s formidable clarion tones overrode worry about the top of the voice. Descending to his current baritonal register, Rigoletto posed less of a problem, as the main burden of performance fell upon others. Next came Act 3 of Simon Boccanegra, which although beautifully phrased and acted, revealed a lack of true baritonal depth and richness. But an ecstatic audience would hear no wrong, and this truly amazing artist received the standing ovation he deserved.
Antonio Pappano offered sterling support in the pit, and particularly good contributions came from Ailyn Pérez and Francesco Meli in Rigoletto, and Paata Burchuladze in Simon Boccanegra.
ROH's Plácido Domingo Celebration will receive a second performance at 3pm on 30 October 2011