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The Prodigal Tenor Returns
Placido Domingo reprises the role he debuted with 40 years ago
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Even strangers to opera know the name Placido Domingo—one of the Three Tenors. Now’s the time to see him in a part he played when no one knew who he was. This month, Domingo returns to Lincoln Center in Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, as Maurizio, the role in which he made his formal Met debut in 1968.
Originally slated to conduct the performance—yes, the Tenor is also a Maestro!—Domingo accepted the role when Argentinean Marcelo Álvarez withdrew to replace the lead in Il Trovatore. Maria Guleghina stars as Lecouvreur, with Olga Borodina cast as her rival for Maurizio’s affections. Marco Amiliato will now be conducting.
Absent from the repertory for fifteen years, the opera is a fictional account of the life and death of popular French actress Adrienne Lecouvreur (1692-1730). The real-life Lecouvreur became an instant celebrity after her 1717 debut at 25 in the Comédie Française—rumored to have performed over 1184 times in a hundred roles, she was hailed, “queen of tragedy.” A doomed love-affair with Maurice de Saxe, whose army she financed by selling her possessions, inspired a jealous rival, the Duchess of Bouillon, to poison the actress. The attempt failed, but the tale became legendary, inspiring plays, stories and this melodramatic opera that leaves Lecouvreur dying in her lover’s arms, poisoned by violets. When she ultimately did die, of natural causes at 40, Lecouvreur refused to renounce her acting career on her deathbed, and was denied a church burial, her body tossed carelessly into a pit along the Seine instead. This final act roused her friend Voltaire to pen the poem, “On the Death of Adrienne Lecouvreur, a Celebrated Actress.”
While not an especially challenging part for Domingo to sing, having graced the Met’s stage in 42 roles, in over 600 performances, the part marks a significant milestone in his rich musical career. On September 28, 2008, the Met celebrated Domingo’s fortieth anniversary, to the day, of his debut, with a dinner and tribute in his honor, unveiling a new, commissioned Julian Schnabel portrait of the tenor to hang in its halls. And his return to the stage where it began, 40 years ago, signifies how far he’s come. His longtime motto, “If I rest, I rust!” spurs the famed Spanish tenor to keep himself busy. He found the time to release a holiday album of duets inspired by the poems of the late Pope John Paul II, entitled Amore Infinito (when not performing or overseeing his annual Operalia, World Opera Competition, Domingo certainly isn’t resting). No signs of rust on these pipes!