Every time I see Domingo (which is quite a few times over the last 25 years), I think it’ll be the last but somehow the now 66-year old keeps going. He was in good voice last night as Siegmund at Covent Garden in another knock-out performance of Die Walkure. He was joined by Susan Bullock as Brunnhilde (Lisa Gasteen being off with a bad cold) who was flown in from France at lunchtime. It’s extraordinary how opera singers do that – give a terrific performance in an unknown production with virtually no rehearsal. I have some insight into how you do that, having done some "original Shakespeare" practise in the past (where you learn your part and go on stage without having rehearsed with your fellow actors) but it’s incredibly impressive when a singer can do it with stuff of this magnitude.
If this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Domingo, it has to be the last chance to see him sing this role in the UK (well,Sunday will be when he sings his second and final performance). He is extraordinary but it has to end eventually and this is surely the final time for London audiences.
Plácido Domingo MP3s or CDs
Plácido Domingo on Spotify
