Placido Domingo

Plácido Domingo married piano classmate Ana María Guerra Cué on 29th August 1957. The couple had a son José Plácido Domingo Guerra on 16 June 1958 and he grew up to become a photographer. However, their marriage did not last long and they separated shortly after the birth of their child.

He married lyric soprano Marta Ornelas on 1 August 1962. They have two sons, elder son Plácido Francisco was born on 21 October 1965 and younger son Alvaro Maurizio was born on 11 October 1968.

In 2010, he had to undergo surgery as he was diagnosed with colon cancer and he made a complete recovery. In 2013 he was hospitalized after suffering pulmonary embolism. However, he was discharged in a few weeks.

Plácido Domingo was born on 21 January 1941 to Spanish zarzuela artists and operettas Plácido Francisco Domingo Ferrer and Josefa "Pepita" Embil Echániz. He had a sister Maria José "Mari Pepa" Domingo de Fernandez.

He had the ability to hum complicated zarzuela tunes even at the age of five. As a child, he along with his sister used to occasionally perform in their parent’s zarzuela acts.

He began training privately in piano when still young and took up training at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico when he was fourteen years old. He also took conduction lessons and voice classes at the National Conservatory of Music.

In 1957, he made his debut professional piano performance at a concert in Mérida, Yucatán. The same year he gave his first zarzuela performance by singing a solo baritone role. He began by assisting in his parents’ zarzuela company by taking up baritone roles and assisting other tenors. The following year he got the opportunity to perform as a tenor for another production as their tenor had fallen ill. This exposed him to more opportunities as a tenor though at that point he felt it was above his skill to perform at that level.

In May 1959, he appeared in a baritone role in Emilio Arriera’s opera ‘Marina’. Around this time he also worked as an assistant coach and assistant conductor in the Latin American production of the musical ‘My Fair Lady’. While he was a team member of the production, the musical is said to have been played around 185 times across various parts of Mexico.

In 1959 Plácido Domingo auditioned for the baritone role at the Mexico National Opera. However, he was inducted as a tenor and a tutor for other singers. In September that year, he performed in the Opera named ‘Rigoletto’. Well-known operatic baritones Cornell MacNeil and Norman Treigle performed along with him. This performance opened doors to more opportunities and he performed in other productions like ‘Dialogues of the Carmelites’, ‘Turandot’, ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ and ‘The Merry Widow’. As a secondary source of income, Plácido Domingo used to play the piano for cultural television station at Mexico and a ballet company.

In 1961, he performed his first leading role in the opera ‘La traviata’ at Monterrey, Mexico. The same year he got the chance to perform in the United States of America as part of the Dallas Civic opera company. In 1962 he returned to USA to sing for the same opera for a different character. In 1962, he finalized a deal with Israel National Opera based in Tel Aviv. This deal however got extended to two and half years and he sang about 280 performances in 12 roles during this time.

In 1965, he auditioned and got selected at the New York City Opera. He gave his debut performance with this group on 17 June 1965 in Puccini’s ‘Madama Butterfly’. In 1966, he performed the title role of ‘Don Rodrigo’ and this earned him much appreciation and critical acclaim.

Plácido Domingo is known for his versatility. He is best known for his portrayal of the title character in ‘Otello’. His performances as a crossover artist in Latin and pop earned much appreciation. Many of his records have gold, platinum and multiplatinum certifications. Also, his performance as part of ‘The Three Tenors’ has earned much fan following.