Domingo

Plácido Domingo’s triumphant “return” to his baritone roots (his first debut with the Mexican National Opera, in 1959, was as a baritone), is captured in this stunning 2-DVD set of the Royal Opera House’s 2010 production of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. Domingo is joined by Marina Poplavskaya, Joseph Calleja, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Jonathan Summers and Lukas Jakobski in this Antonio Pappano conducted performance, directed by Elijah Moshinsky…

This famous production of Manon Lescaut from The Royal Opera, recorded in 1983, features two of the biggest stars in opera, Placido Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa, in their vocal prime. Placido Domingo’s performance of Des Grieux is considered to be unsurpassed. Conductor Guiseppe Sinopoli made his British operatic debut with this production. Puccini’s first masterpiece was rapturously received on its first night. It has his hallmark sensuality and also a youthful freshness, its untamed outpouring of melody just as passionate as his more famous operas, La Boheme, Tosca and Madame Butterfly. The role of Des Grieux is one of the most taxing in the tenor repertoire and Domingo’s passionate portrayal is one of his greatest achievements.

For some years now, Domingo has been, on stage, the greatest Otello of our age. On record, though, he has had less success. Leiferkus and Domingo have worked closely together in the theatre; and it shows in scene after scene – nowhere more so than in the crucial sequence in Act 2 where Otello so rapidly ingests Iago's lethal poison. By bringing into the recording studio the feel and experience of a stage performance – meticulous study subtly modified by the improvised charge of the moment – both singers help defy the jinx that so often afflicts Otello on record.