Plácido Domingo was born in Madrid, Spain, and moved to Mexico at age 8 with his family, who ran a zarzuela company. In Mexico City he studied music at the National Conservatory. He provided backup vocals for Los Black Jeans in 1958, a rock-and-roll band lead by César Costa. He learned piano and conducting, but made his stage debut in 1959 (May 12) at the Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara as Pascual in Marina. It was followed by Borsa in Rigoletto, Padre Confessor (Le dialogue des Carmelites) and others. In 1962 he joined the Israeli National Opera in Tel Aviv, where he spent two and a half years, singing 280 performances.
On September 19, 1985, the biggest earthquake in Mexico's history devastated the whole Mexican capital. Domingo's aunt, uncle, his nephew and his nephew’s young son were killed in the collapse of the Nuevo León apartment block in the Tlatelolco housing complex. Domingo himself labored to rescue survivors. During the next year, he did benefit concerts for the victims and released an album of one of the events.
In 1966, he sang the title role in the US premiere of Ginastera's Don Rodrigo at the New York City Opera, with much acclaim. He first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York on September 28, 1968, in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, singing with Renata Tebaldi. (Since then, he has opened the season there 21 times, surpassing the previous record of Enrico Caruso by four.) He made his debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1967, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1968, at both La Scala and San Francisco Opera in 1969, and at Covent Garden in 1971, and has now sung at practically every other important opera house and festival worldwide.
Perhaps the most versatile of all living tenors, Domingo has sung 92 roles onstage to date (and as many as 123 roles when also counting recorded roles), ranging from Mozart to Ginastera. His main repertoire however is Italian (Otello, Il Trovatore, Don Carlo), French (Faust, Werther, Don José in Carmen, Samson in Samson et Dalila), and German (Lohengrin, Parsifal, and Siegmund in Die Walküre). He continues to add more operas to his repertoire, such as recently Franco Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac at the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House in London.
With José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti, he participated in The Three Tenors concert at the opening of the 1990 World Cup in Rome. The event was originally conceived to raise money for the José Carreras International Leukemia Foundation and was later repeated a number of times, including at the three subsequent World Cup finals (1994 in Los Angeles, 1998 in Paris, and 2002 in Yokohama). Alone, Domingo again made an appearance at the final of the 2006 World Cup in Berlin.
In what has been called his 'final career move', Placido Domingo announced on January 25, 2007 that in 2009 he would switch ranges to baritone by taking on one of Verdi's most demanding baritone roles, as the Doge of Genoa, Simon Boccanegra, in the opera of the same name.
Che gelida manina
Plácido Domingo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Se la lasci riscaldar.
Cercar che giova?
Al buio non si trova.
Ma per fortuna
è una notte di luna,
e qui la luna
l'abbiamo vicina.
Aspetti, signorina,
le dirò con due parole
chi son, e che faccio,
come vivo. Vuole?
Chi son?
Sono un poeta.
Che cosa faccio? Scrivo.
E come vivo? Vivo!
In povertà mia lieta
scialo da gran signore
rime ed inni d'amore.
Per sogni e per chimere
e per castelli in aria,
l'anima ho milionaria.
Talor dal mio forziere
ruban tutti i gioelli
due ladri, gli occhi belli.
V'entrar con voi pur ora,
ed i miei sogni usati
e i bei sogni miei,
tosto si dileguar!
Ma il furto non m'accora,
poichè, v'ha preso stanza
la dolce speranza!
Or che mi conoscete,
parlate voi, deh! Parlate.
Chi siete? Vi piaccia dir
The first stanza of Plácido Domingo's "Che Gelida Manina" is a poetic and romantic plea from the tenor. The lyrics translate to "What a cold little hand, / let me warm it for you. / What good is searching? / You won't find anything in the dark. / But luckily, it's a moonlit night / and the moon is close." The tenor is asking for the chance to warm the woman's hand, and pointing out that without the light of the moon, they wouldn't be able to enjoy the beauty around them.
The second stanza is a response to the woman's question about who the tenor is. The lyrics translate to "Who am I? / I am a poet. / What do I do? I write. / And how do I live? I live! / In my happy poverty, / I squander rhymes and love songs / like a rich man. / For dreams and for visions, / for castles in the air, / my soul has become a millionaire. / Sometimes from my treasure / they steal all my jewels – / two lovely eyes. / They enter with you just now, / and my customary dreams / of beautiful dreams, / suddenly vanish! / But the theft doesn't worry me, / because in my heart / there still lives sweet hope!" Here, the tenor is revealing that he is a poet who lives in poverty but writes about rich and beautiful things. He also talks about how his dreams are taken away when reality sets in, but his hope remains strong.
Overall, the song is about love, beauty, and the power of art to transcend our limitations. Through the voice of the tenor, we are transported to a world of moonlit nights, stolen jewels, and hopeful hearts. It is a beautiful song that touches both the mind and the soul.
Line by Line Meaning
Che gelida manina
What a chilly little hand
Se la lasci riscaldar.
Let me warm it for you
Cercar che giova?
What's the use in searching?
Al buio non si trova.
In the dark nothing can be found.
Ma per fortuna è una notte di luna,
But fortunately, it's a moonlit night,
e qui la luna l'abbiamo vicina.
and the moon is nearby.
Aspetti, signorina, le dirò con due parole
Wait a moment, miss, I'll tell you in just two words
chi son, e che faccio, come vivo. Vuole?
Who I am, what I do, how I live. Would you like to know?
Chi son? Sono un poeta.
Who am I? I'm a poet.
Che cosa faccio? Scrivo.
What do I do? I write.
E come vivo? Vivo!
And how do I live? I live!
In povertà mia lieta scialo da gran signore rime ed inni d'amore.
In my happy poverty, I squander rhymes and love songs like a great lord.
Per sogni e per chimere e per castelli in aria, l'anima ho milionaria.
For dreams and fantasies and for castles in the air, my soul is a millionaire.
Talor dal mio forziere ruban tutti i gioelli due ladri, gli occhi belli.
Sometimes two thieves, with lovely eyes, steal all the jewels from my treasure chest.
V'entrar con voi pur ora, ed i miei sogni usati e i bei sogni miei, tosto si dileguar!
If I were to go with you now, my worn-out dreams and my beautiful dreams would soon disappear!
Ma il furto non m'accora, poichè, v'ha preso stanza la dolce speranza!
But the theft doesn't upset me, because sweet hope has taken up residence with you!
Or che mi conoscete, parlate voi, deh! Parlate.
Now that you know who I am, you speak, oh! Speak.
Chi siete? Vi piaccia dir.
Who are you? Please, tell me.
Contributed by Jackson W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@sabineschmelzer1
So großartig! ❤️Danke dafür!
@theforeverpuddle8754
Domingo's phrasing is just gorgeous.
@colleenshelnutt8128
❤Heavenly
@valentinafumagalli4453
Voce dolce e meravigliosa, Bravo Maestro Domingo. Grande, immenso Maestro Domingo
@theotren9127
For me, richness of his voice is the best of the best !
@enniodemauri1106
Placido, sei grande, grandissimo, immenso.
@milamasina5346
Adoro! !!!
@emiliolupianezperandres6623
bravisimo Plácido!
@Kings_New_Clothese
Had the great pleasure of seeing one of his live stream shows outside Covent Garden in the summer of 1987 - he sang like a god that night!
@dagmarpreinerstorfer1609
He IS a god!