Vocalist.org archive


From: Michael Gordon
Organization: Mr. Chen's Cookies
To: vocalist
Subject: Domingo - a baritone?
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Dear List:

This is in response to Karen Mercedes comments on Placido Domingo. Note
that Mr. Domingo is not my "favorite" singer, and I do not own any of
his solo recordings. I have however heard him quite a bit and do admire
his singing.

Ms. Mercedes writes, "he (Domingo) has gone on record as saying he is
truly a baritone who has to work to sustain the tenor _fach_. ...
Listen to his Figaro on the undistinguished BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA
recording he made and you will realise that there's no way this man was
ever truly a baritone. He is a tenor who has simply never found the
technical key to unlocking his top notes."

Now Domingo may not be the greatest vocal technician of all times, but
he certainly is a great singer by most reasonable standards and
definitions and one of the world's most successful tenors. It does seem
a bit presumptious to me for Ms. Mercedes to "know" that Domingo
struggles as a tenor simply because he "has never found the key to
unlocking his top notes." Again, the assumption is that we all fit into
nice little boxes - so Mr. Domingo is NOT a baritone, but he IS a
tenor. Isn't it possible he is kind of in-between, and tenor top notes
are hard for him because tenor isn't a perfect "natural" fit for him,
even though his competitive advantage is optimized as a tenor? Ms.
Mercedes is narrowly focusing on his statement that he is "a baritone"
and missing what I believe to be an essentially accurate statement - I
believe Mr. Domingo is merely attempting to explain to the interviewer
that he has to work (via daily practice) to sustain the tenor
"tessitura" and that it is not natural for him.

For what it's worth ...

Cheers,

Michael Gordon