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.
Volver
Plácido Domingo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
De las luces que a lo lejos
Van marcando mi retorno
Son las mismas que alumbraron
Con sus palidos reflejos
Hondas horas de dolor
Y aunque no quise el regreso
La vieja calle donde el eco dijo
Tuya es su vida, tuyo es su querer
Bajo el burlón mirar de las estrellas
Que con indiferencia hoy me ven volver
Volver con la frente marchita
Las nieves del tiempo platearon mi sien
Sentir que es un soplo la vida
Que veinte años no es nada
Que febril la mirada, errante en las sombras
Te busca y te nombra
Vivir con el alma aferrada
A un dulce recuerdo
Que lloro otra vez
Tengo miedo del encuentro
Con el pasado que vuelve
A enfrentarse con mi vida
Tengo miedo de las noches
Que pobladas de recuerdos
Encadenan mi soñar
Pero el viajero que huye
Tarde o temprano detiene su andar
Y aunque el olvido, que todo destruye
Haya matado mi vieja ilusión
Guardo escondida una esperanza humilde
Que es toda la fortuna de mi corazón
Volver con la frente marchita
Las nieves del tiempo platearon mi sien
Sentir que es un soplo la vida
Que veinte años no es nada
Que febril la mirada, errante en las sombras
Te busca y te nombra
Vivir con el alma aferrada
A un dulce recuerdo
Que lloro otra vez
The lyrics to Plácido Domingo's song "Volver" are about the journey of returning to a place of past memories and love. The singer notes the flicker of distant lights that signal his return to the same place that witnessed past moments of pain and heartache. The lyrics express a combination of fear, nostalgia, and an underlying sense of hope for what may come next. The singer admits to being scared to confront his past memories and the vivid nightmares that they generate, but in the end, he realizes that one cannot escape his past forever.
The second verse of the song delves deeper into the impact that time has had on the singer. He returns with a forehead wrinkled by the passage of time, with the memories he thought he left behind still fresh and prominent. However, he knows that twenty years are nothing at all, and he expresses the desperation of a wanderer searching for his way back home. The song concludes with the realization that the journey may have its risks and pitfalls, but the hope concealed in the singer's heart remains the greatest treasure of all.
Fact 1: Plácido Domingo recorded “Volver” in 1991 as part of his album Por Amor.
Fact 2: The song was composed by Carlos Gardel in 1934.
Fact 3: “Volver” is recognized as one of the most famous tango songs of all time.
Fact 4: The song has been covered by numerous musicians around the world, including Julio Iglesias and Ibrahim Ferrer.
Fact 5: The lyrics to “Volver” were written by Alfredo Le Pera, who collaborated with Carlos Gardel on many of his most iconic compositions.
Fact 6: Plácido Domingo recorded the song again in 2007 as part of his album Pasión Española.
Fact 7: The song was featured in the 2006 film "Volver," directed by Pedro Almodóvar.
Fact 8: The song won the 1986 Latin Grammy Award for Best Tango.
Fact 9: The lyrics to “Volver” were originally written as a poem by Le Pera before it was set to music by Gardel.
Fact 10: The song was written during the time of the Great Depression, and its themes speak to the challenges faced by many people during that time.
Chords: Unfortunately, the specific chords for this recording were not able to be found.
Line by Line Meaning
Yo adivino el parpadeo
I can predict the flicker
De las luces que a lo lejos
Of the lights in the distance
Van marcando mi retorno
That are marking my return
Son las mismas que alumbraron
They are the same ones that illuminated
Con sus palidos reflejos
With their pale reflections
Hondas horas de dolor
Deep hours of pain
Y aunque no quise el regreso
And although I didn't want to come back
Siempre se vuelve al primer amor
One always returns to their first love
La vieja calle donde el eco dijo
The old street where the echo said
Tuya es su vida, tuyo es su querer
Yours is its life, yours is its love
Bajo el burlón mirar de las estrellas
Under the mocking gaze of the stars
Que con indiferencia hoy me ven volver
Who today see me returning with indifference
Volver con la frente marchita
Returning with a withered brow
Las nieves del tiempo platearon mi sien
The snows of time have silvered my temples
Sentir que es un soplo la vida
Feeling that life is but a breath
Que veinte años no es nada
That twenty years is nothing
Que febril la mirada, errante en las sombras
That the gaze is feverish, wandering in the shadows
Te busca y te nombra
It searches for you and calls your name
Vivir con el alma aferrada
Living with the soul gripped
A un dulce recuerdo
To a sweet memory
Que lloro otra vez
That I cry for once again
Tengo miedo del encuentro
I am afraid of the encounter
Con el pasado que vuelve
With the past that returns
A enfrentarse con mi vida
To confront my life
Tengo miedo de las noches
I am afraid of the nights
Que pobladas de recuerdos
That are filled with memories
Encadenan mi soñar
That shackle my dreaming
Pero el viajero que huye
But the traveler who flees
Tarde o temprano detiene su andar
Sooner or later stops walking
Y aunque el olvido, que todo destruye
And although forgetfulness, which destroys everything
Haya matado mi vieja ilusión
May have killed my old illusion
Guardo escondida una esperanza humilde
I keep a humble hope hidden
Que es toda la fortuna de mi corazón
Which is all the fortune of my heart
Lyrics © DistroKid, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Carlos Gardel, Alfredo Le Pera
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind