Kristine Opolais

On July 29, the Dzintari Concert Hall hosted an event that opera lovers had been anticipating for years: Plácido Domingogave his first-ever performance in Latvia.

Over the course of his extraordinary career, Domingo has performed more than 150 operatic roles and has demonstrated remarkable versatility across an exceptionally broad repertoire. For his Latvian debut, he presented an ambitious gala program featuring arias from Andrea Chénier, Il Trovatore, La Tabernera del Puerto, and The Land of Smiles, alongside Spanish and Italian songs, as well as duets with the evening's hostess, soprano Kristīne Opolais, and American tenor Michael Fabiano. The audience was also treated to several special surprises that the organizers had kept secret until the performance.

The gala brought together three international opera stars, a choir, and the Festival Orchestra under the baton of Valentin Uryupin, performing music by Verdi, Puccini, Leoncavallo, Giordano, Cilea, Dvořák, Sorozábal, and Lehár. The concert also fulfilled a long-held wish: more than ten years ago, Domingo told Kristīne Opolais that he hoped they would one day perform together in Latvia.

Although Domingo had collaborated with many distinguished Latvian opera artists throughout his career, those performances had always taken place abroad. One notable example was La Scala, where Alvis Hermanis staged Verdi's I Due Foscari especially for Domingo in 2016, and where Domingo and Opolais opened the opera season together in 2020. Reflecting on their artistic partnership, Domingo noted that he was delighted to perform with Opolais again, following their recent successful concert in Hanoi.

Kristīne Opolais has firmly established herself among the world's leading sopranos. In addition to La Scala, she has appeared on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, the Bavarian State Opera, the Zurich Opera House, and many other prestigious venues. Critics have praised her as "an artist unafraid of risk, always drawn to the place where true art is created." It is precisely this artistic courage that makes each of her performances memorable, both vocally and dramatically.

The third star of the evening was Michael Fabiano, one of the most sought-after tenors of his generation. He has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, La Scala, the Paris National Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, and Deutsche Oper Berlin. During the current season, he has appeared as Don José in New York, Madrid, and Erl; Calaf in New York; Otello in Buenos Aires and Toulouse; Andrea Chénier in Bilbao; Grimaldo in Barcelona; and Roméo in Madrid. His appearance in Jūrmala offered audiences a rare opportunity to hear one of today's outstanding dramatic tenors.

Yet the undeniable focal point of the evening remained Plácido Domingo himself—a legendary artist who reached the pinnacle of the opera world early in his career and has remained there for more than half a century. Beyond his achievements as a singer, he is also an acclaimed conductor, stage director, founder of the international Operaliacompetition, recipient of nine Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, and two Emmy Awards, and one of the most influential figures in the history of opera.

The July 29 gala was not only Domingo's long-awaited Latvian debut but also a landmark occasion that brought together three exceptional artists for an unforgettable celebration of opera.