Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Operatic tenor, best known for his powerful voice and leading roles in opera.
On the island
Eight records
that was the first music I hear it in my life. I listen a lot to my parents in the theater.
La Juive: Rachel, quand du Seigneur
because of being my first experience of listening to the greatest of all times, which is without any doubt for me Caruso.
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan
is really the sadness, the desperation of the Grie, you hear it in the whole intermezzo, in the voice of the viola, in the celli, the desperation, in the crescendo, and then the stillness of the pianissimo.
Traditional, arranged by Pablo Casals
you hear the sadness and you can hear the sadness of a man in exile, out of Spain how many years he was and I think that if I will be in an island I will be very nostalgic, and this will be something definitely I would love to hear it.
that performance is I can never forgot because to hear this incredible voice with the easiest, with the incredible top
Otello: Opening Storm SceneFavourite
NBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Arturo Toscanini
the storm at its full capacity without any of the advantage of the stereo sound and the driving of the opening two or three minutes of the work that are incredible.
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37: First Movement (ending)
Maurizio Pollini, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Karl Böhm
I think that it was just not a coincidence that it's also Beethoven which united them and in particular I like the ending of the first movement of the piano concerto, number three.
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67: First Movement
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Carlos Kleiber
I think his view of music is still extraordinary. And I think his Beethoven fifth symphony is incredible, is outstanding.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:35Were you one of a large family?
No, only two. My sister and my s So
Presenter asks
3:39How old were you when your parents decided to go to Mexico?
I was eight years old. Almost nine.
Presenter asks
4:01In Mexico, did you find it easier to make it your home?
Well, it was not difficult because first of all I don't have the handicap of the language. The language was the same and I kind of enjoyed very much the school I was in it. I used to play a lot of uh football, which I love it.
Presenter asks
5:11Had you ever had any singing lessons?
Yes, I had. ... But very little. I was no serious, you know, just to have a little bit of trying here and there. But I haven't had really proper teachers.
The keepsakes
The book
Miguel de Cervantes
I think then one of the most beautiful and really moving works of our literature is Don Quixote de la Mancha, Cervantes Don Quixote. I guess any Spaniard will pick so I don't want to be the exception.
The luxury
Video cassette of his performances
I will have to sneak there, you know, a video cassette with all my performances. Then it could be worked by batteries also. ... because it will keep me in the music also.
Presenter asks
5:51How did your debut in opera come about?
Well, I was doing a lot of m as I tell you, musical comedy and so on, and Mexico they were forming a national season of opera, and I I have a very dear friend which passed away three years ago, which told me Placido, I think you can sing opera and I think you should concentrate on doing opera. And uh finally I decide, Why not? Let's try it. So I auditioned and so I was engaged.
Presenter asks
9:30How did your long spell with the Israel National Opera come about?
Well, in nineteen sixty two. I was just married with my wife, Marta, which also used to sing. And uh a friend of ours, Jose Kahn, a pianist, just came from Israel and he said, Placido, Marta, you know, they are looking for a soprano and a tenor in the Israel opera. And it sounds so exciting to us, that why don't you go? So we sent a tape of our performance, our voice, audition, and they engage us. So we were initially for six months under contract and those six months became two and a half years.
“I think in the soul of every Spaniard, when you are very young, you want to be either a football player or a bull fighter.”
“I was really a false baritone. I was just a baritone, a comfortable baritone, let's say it, in his way to be a tenor. But since I was singing some of the my parents' Sarzuelas, I passed like a baritone, but I was ... never really a baritone.”
“I like to go from lyric to dramatic, uh, not to stay too much in the dramatic, then to go back to the lyric, to do something light. You know, I like it really to change the repertoire. I think it must be very boring when the people is asking you to sing always the same role.”
“I cannot even if music is my life, I cannot live only with eight records and without seeing anybody else, you know.”