Helping Placido Domingo celebrate the 50th anniversary of his Met debut, four great stars who sang with him often came backstage to greet the "tenoritone" after his prima of GIANNI SCHICCHI. Above: Sherrill Milnes, Martina Arroyo, Placi, Teresa Stratas, and James Morris in a Met Opera photo.
Having already seen him several times at New York City Opera, I was at Placido Domingo's Met debut - the night he stepped in (on very short notice) for Franco Corelli - as Maurizio in Cilea's ADRIANA LECOUVREUR:
My fondest memory of that evening was of Renata Tebaldi, as Adriana, turning her back on the audience so that Placi could look over her shoulder to watch conductor Fausto Cleva during his Act I aria, "La dolcissima effigie". During the ensuing ovation, Renata kept patting Domingo's shoulder and saying "bravo! bravo!" They went on to be good colleagues and friends:
While that ADRIANA was Domingo's first performance from the Met stage, he had sung a single concert performance of CAV & PAG with the Company at Lewisohn Stadium in August, 1966:
Metropolitan Opera @ Lewisohn Stadium
August 9th, 1966
In Concert
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA
Mascagni
Santuzza................Irene Dalis
Turiddu.................Plácido Domingo [First appearance]
Lola....................Joann Grillo
Alfio...................Russell Christopher
Mamma Lucia.............Carlotta Ordassy
Conductor...............Kurt Adler
Sherrill Milnes had made his Met debut during the final season at the Old Met (in the same performance of FAUST that Montserrat Caballé made hers); Martina Arroyo and Teresa Stratas had already established themselves at the Old Met by the time the Company moved to Lincoln Center. James Morris made his Met debut in 1971, and I saw him there in one of his very first performances, as Raimondo in a student matinee of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR.
Now let's hear from each singer in the "reunion" photo at the top:
Martina Arroyo - Ritorna vincitor! - AIDA - Buenos Aires 1968
GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES ~ final scene - Teresa Stratas & Hector Vasquez - Met bcast 1995
James Morris - RHEINGOLD ~ Abendlich Strahlt Die Sonne - w M Lipovsek
Sherrill Milnes joins Domingo on the final note of their OTELLO duet...such an exciting moment:
Domingo & Milnes - OTELLO duet - Met bcast - 2~2~85
To finish this reminiscence, here's Domingo in a opera The Met could/should have staged for him, Meyerbeer's L'AFRICAINE:
Placido Domingo - O Paradis! - L'AFRICAINE
~ Oberon