Table of Biography
Plácido Domingo is a Spanish-born singer, conductor, as well as opera administrator. Plácido Domingo has a sonorous, powerful tenor voice, inflicting physical stature, good looks, and dramatic ability which made him one of the most popular musicians of his time.
Early Life and Childhood
Plácido Domingo is 82 years old. He was born on January 21, 1941, in the Retiro district of Madrid, Spain. His father’s name is Placido Domingo Sr. and his mother’s name is Pepita Embil Domingo. Likewise, his father played the violin and sang baritone roles in zarzuela until he injured his voice while singing with a cold. Similarly, his mother was a singer who made her first performance in Spain’s most famous opera house, the Teatro Liceo in Barcelona, Spain.
In 1946 his parents joined a zarzuela company that ultimately traveled to Mexico. Attracted to the country, he along with his family stayed and founded their own company in Mexico City, Mexico. At the age of five, his parents knew about his future being a musician due to his ability to hum complex music. He has a sister named Maria José Domingo de Fernandez.
After the family moved to Mexico City, he began studying the piano privately and later at the National Conservatory. He also studied directing. He attended Instituto Mexico where he played soccer at his high school. Likewise, he also tried his hand at bullfighting.
At the age of sixteen, he met a fellow piano student and got married. He also has a son who was born within the year. However, shortly thereafter the couple separated.
Plácido Domingo – Net Worth 2023
Speaking of Plácido Domingo’s earnings, he is a Spanish singer and conductor. He has earned a decent sum of money through his tremendous work. His estimated net worth is around $300 million. Further, he has not revealed information regarding his assessments, houses, cars, etc. However, he owns many opera houses.
Opera singer Plácido Domingo tested positive for COVID-19?
Beleaguered opera singer Placido Domingo tested positive for COVID-19. Like other celebrities, he has also contracted a deadly virus that has continued to infect more people worldwide. He posted a status on his Facebook account on March 22 at 9:02 PM revealing his positive test. Similarly, he feels it’s his moral duty to encourage all fan followers to speak about his positive test for COVID-19. Also, he wrote, that he along with his family are in self-isolation for as long as it is considered medically necessary.
Currently, he alongside his family members is in good health condition. He continued that he decided to get examined after he began symptoms of coughing and developed a fever. Even begs everyone to be careful very and follow the basic guidelines by washing their hands regularly. Furthermore, he has also pledged to maintain at least a 6-foot distance from others and do all the basic preventive things that can stop the virus from spreading.
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Like other celebs, he has also insisted everyone stay home and fight viruses together. He is concerned about stopping the current worldwide crisis and waiting to return to normal daily life very soon. Further, he has also requested to follow the local government’s guidelines and regulations for staying safe and protecting not just ourselves but the entire community.
After his post on Facebook, he got lots of good wishes for his speedy health recovery and it made him more strong and again posted a status thanking all the good wishes. He wrote he feels so grateful and touched by the wave of messages he has received from so many people. He thanked everyone very much with all his heart. In addition, He also wrote, “Take care of health, stay safe and #Stay Home.” I hope for his speedy recovery and healthy life.
Professional Life
Talking about Plácido Domingo’s professional life, he is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. In 1957, he started his singing baritone roles with his parents’ zarzuela company. During his early career, he included a production of My Fair Lady, of which he gave 185 performances without delay. In 1959 he tried out for the National Opera (Mexico) as a baritone.
However, he was requested to sing something in the tone range instead. Likewise, he was selected as a tenor comprimario (singer of secondary roles) and as a coach for additional singers. He too performed piano for a ballet company to make additional money and made an appearance on a Mexican television program, playing the piano to supplement servings of zarzuelas, operas, and musical comedies.
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His number of opera appearances progressed steadily, and in November 1961 he appeared firstly on American with the Dallas Civic Orchestra. In late 1962, he along with his wife signed a six-month contract with the Hebrew National Opera in Tel Aviv, Israel. His company stayed in Tel Aviv for over two years.
After departing Tel Aviv, he was hired by the New York City Opera. His first show was programmed for October 21, 1965, in Carmen. But four days before airing the show he was requested to fill in Madame Butterfly for a tenor who was s
In September 1968, he debuted his official Metropolitan Opera when he substituted for Franco Corelli in Adrianna Lecouveur a week before his schedule. Similarly, he continued leading opportunities whenever possible, including a New York City Opera production of La Traviata during the 1973–74 season. He also made an appearance in film versions of several operas during the 1980s. Also, he made benefit concerts that raised millions of dollars to help victims of a 1985 earthquake in Mexico.
Caption: Plácido Domingo captures during his performance (Source:
Washington Times)
Worldwide acclaim
During the 1990s he made a huge success alongside his Three Tenors performances with Luciano Pavarotti (1935–) and Jose Carreras (1946–). In 1994, 1.3 billion people viewed his concert in Los Angeles, California, on television, and sold more than ten million CDs and videos. Likewise, he became the artistic director of the Washington Opera while initiating the Three Tenors World Tour in 1996, which showed opera to four continents and extended through 1997.
In 1998, he accepted to take over as the artistic director of the Los Angeles Opera, at the beginning of 2000. Moreover, in 1999, he recorded his eighteenth opening night performance at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. In December 2000, he won a Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement from U.S. President Bill Clinton. This made him praised for his efforts to grow the audience for opera and to help those less helpful around the world.
In September of 2001, he worked in New York City at a service in Yankee Stadium for sufferers of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. In December 2001, there was a concern when he, while showing in Otello in Milan, Italy, hesitated and had to leave the stage shortly. He returned after a few moments, notwithstanding, and finished the rest of the show.
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In addition, he has appeared in three feature opera films—Carmen, La Traviata, and Otello. He even voiced the roles of Monte in Skeleton Jorge and Beverly Hills Chihuahua in the animated film The Book of Life. Likewise, he has also made an appearance as himself on Sesame Street and The Simpsons.
He has attended more than 500 opera performances and musical concerts with the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Chicago Symphony, Vienna Philharmonic, Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, London Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, National Symphony (Washington), and Berlin Philharmonic. In 2018, he made his first debut at the Bayreuth Festival, leading performances of Die Walküre.
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He is also the former General Director of the Washington National Opera and the Los Angeles Opera. To both operas, he produced a major impact in bringing them into the “major league” of American opera ensembles. In 1993, he organized the international voice competition Operalia. Following he co-created Young Artist programs in Washington, Los Angeles, and Valencia (Spain) as well.
He debuted his first stage appearance in a leading baritone role in 2009. Since then, he has continued several more Verdi baritone roles to his collection, with appearances in Rigoletto, I Due Foscari, La Traviata, Nabucco, Don Carlo, Giovanna d’Arco, Il Trovatore, Macbeth, Ernani, and Luisa Miller. He has organized many concerts for 2020 which have been postponed due to COVID-19. In brief, as a professional opera singer, the amazing Plácido Domingo shows no signs of slowing down in his eightieth year and his sixty-first year in the profession.
Awards
Plácido Domingo has won several awards for his tremendous sixty-first years of profession as a musician. He has done over 100 recordings of complete operas, collections of arias and duets, and crossover discs now. He’s such a huge made he earned 12 Grammy Awards, including three Latin Grammys. He has made more than 50 music videos which have made him win two Emmy Awards.
Likewise, he has received honorific doctorates from Oxford University and New York University for his lifetime dedication and contribution to music and the arts. He has also gained recognition in the baritone roles of the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Athanaël in Massenet’s Thaïs, and Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de Perles. Throughout his whole lifetime contribution to music, he has won several awards from many different countries. Moreover, he has received 17 honorary decorations and also has a huge collection of awards.
Caption: Plácido captured after receiving the award (Source:
The Birgit Nilsson Prize)
Personal Life
Reflecting on Plácido Domingo’s relationship status, he is a married man. And has been in a married relationship for 50 years. Likewise, he has married twice in his life. At the age of 16, he married his first wife Ana Maria Guerra Cue during his high school days. After, a short union, his son, Jose was born. However, his first marriage did not last for a long period and within a year the duo got separated.
Likewise, he married his second wife, Marta Ornelas, on August 1, 1962, at the age of 21. His wife Marta was a soprano whom Domingo met during the school of music. They also got a consignment of performing together as a couple. They have blessed two sons Plácido Domingo Jr. and Alvaro Maurizio.
Caption: Plácido posing along with his family member (Source: Instagram)
Accusations of sexual harassment
Within a very long era of his musical journey, Plácido has been through multiple cases of controversy. In August 2019, he was accused by many women of sexual harassment. From the late 1980s, eight singers and a dancer said that he sexually harassed them in incidents that happened for three decades. This took place at venues like opera companies where the musician held top positions. Further, women came foremost revealing their discomfort due to his sexual motions.
However, he emanated a statement, asserting “The accusations from these unnamed people seeing back as many as 30 years are genuinely troubling, and as shown, wrong.” He also added “I recognize that the rules and standards by which we are—and should be—measured against today are very different than they were in the past. I am blessed and privileged to have had a more than 50-year career in opera and will hold myself to the highest standards.”
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In September 2019, he terminated the relationship with the Metropolitan Opera in the message of accusations of sexual harassment by several women. Similarly, in October 2019, he retired as general director of the Los Angeles Opera and was removed from all expected performances with that company.
In February 2020, he apologized for hurting several women who accused him. Consequently, Spain’s cultural ministry canceled his upcoming appearances and said his apology gave a “false impression”. An inquiry directed by the Los Angeles Opera gathered on 10 March 2020 claims leveled against him were credible.
Body Measurements
The 79-year-old Spanish singer Plácido is a good tall height standing 6 feet 3 inches (188 cm). He has a healthy body weight weighing around 84 kg (Weight 185 lb). Likewise, his hair color is Gray, and has a pair of dark brown eyes. Further, there is no information regarding his body status, shoe size, dress size, etc.
Caption: Plácido posing for a photo (Source: Instagram)
Plácido Domingo – Social Media
Plácido is also socially active on different social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. He has gathered many fan followers on his social media account. On Instagram, he goes by @placido_domingo with more than 225k fan followers. Similarly, he has gained over 89.6k fan followers on his Twitter account. He has around 1.12 million fans following his Facebook account.