The night that Placido Domingo disappeared from the Met without a trace | Society
A tiny piece of a folio inserted on page 21 of the program gave, without explanation, the end of the 51-year career of Placido Domingo at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, one of the world temples of the opera. "In the representation of Macbeth tonight, the main role will be sung by Zelico Lucic, replacing Plácido Domingo," said the brief letter. Two lines. Without saying why, although all the attendees were aware that after the decision are the allegations of sexual harassment of a twenty women, of which only two have given their name.
The tenor had already announced that he was resigning in a statement sent to The New York Times on Tuesday, two days before the premiere and pressed by the theater management and some colleagues, who first supported him and then demanded his resignation. It indicated that: “Although I firmly reject the accusations against me, and I am worried about the environment in which people are condemned without due process, after reflecting I think that my appearance in this production of Macbeth I would take attention from the hard work of my colleagues on stage and behind the curtain. As a result, I have asked to be removed [from the cartel] and I thank those responsible for Met for accepting my request. ”
The Spanish singer debuted at the Met with 27 years. In 2018, a great tribute was organized for its 50 years of triumphs, 21 of them as the star that opened the season, a record that exceeded 17 of the mythical Enrico Caruso. Only in the Met, the tenor has sung 700 times with 52 different roles, as he recalled the program that did not have time to change and that will have him forever as the star of this last Macbeth who will never sing. His return seems impossible after the scandal.
No one seemed to miss Domingo very much. The spectacular theater had been filled to attend the performance of Spanish and soprano Anna Netrebko, an absolute star who drove the New York public crazy and triumphed with her cruel Lady Macbeth as if nothing had happened. Netrebko was precisely those who supported until the end that he should act, and said it publicly. But seeing the opera and the final assembly, it is not difficult to imagine the moments of tension that could have been experienced in the public with some scenes of the Macbeth marriage in bed designing their crimes. The possibility of some booing was real.
Everything indicates, according to the New York Times, that it was representatives of the choir and the orchestra of the theater that pressed the most so that the tenor would not act out of respect for the victims who have denounced the abuses. Finally, the singer and the theater agreed that the situation was unsustainable and the Spanish's career in one of his great temples of his art closed through the back door.
In the corrillos, some fans commented on the physical resemblance that the substitute keeps, Lucic, with Domingo, but not in the voice, which they considered inferior. From a distance, both could even be confused among the less informed spectators, although the fans knew perfectly the situation, another topic of conversation in the halls of the lavish theater of the New York intellectual and economic elite. But after a hesitant start and with very little applause in the first years - it is not easy to replace a giant at the last moment - Lucic ended up triumphing. Less than Netrebko, acclaimed standing up and shouting, but it was a success after all. There was only a faint whistle of criticism that was quickly silenced by the applause.
If it had had time, the organization would surely have erased the name of the tenor of the printed program. Ahead, you have a more complicated decision. The legend of Sunday in this theater is so important that in a very prominent place, under the main staircase, at the entrance of the museum and in view of all who enter, there is a huge picture of the tenor in majestic pose, at the peak of his long career. The Domingo case has only just begun.
