Plácido Domingo cancels Italian dates for health problems

Plácido Domingo has cancelled his Italian commitments in November due to a health problem that has arisen in the last few hours.

The unnamed problem prohibits him from travelling and working, therefore he has cancelled his participation as a singer in the Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo – though he has promised to return soon – as well as conductor for a performance of the Verdi Requiem in Piacenza.

Domingo was to sing in Donizetti's opera Belisario, his debut in the role, in the newly restored Donizetti Theatre in the composer's hometown. A week before the opening of the sixth edition of Donizetti Opera, Domingo has been forced to cancel his presence in the opera which will be in concert form. The Festival had to postpone some of its programming and move other events to online streaming because of the national closing of theatres and concert halls because of the coronavirus, and in Domingo, it has lost its jewel in the crown for the 2020 edition.

Italian baritone, Roberto Frontali, will take his place and the opera will be streamed on the new platform Donizetti Web TV on Saturday 21 November at 8 pm, though performed without a live audience.

The other artists in the cast have been confirmed: on the podium of the Donizetti Opera Orchestra and Chorus will be Riccardo Frizza, with Simon Lim, Carmela Remigio (who replaces Davinia Rodriguez), Annalisa Stroppa and Celso Albelo.

Plácido Domingo, photo by Pedro Walker

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.