Domingo's age
Sergio Henrique
I read in Opera Web (http://www.doit.it/OperaWeb) that Placido Domingo
was born in 1934. That would make him 62 years old nowadays. Can anyone
confirm on this ? It is even said that he claims to be born in 1941, which
they claim is not true.
Regards,
Sergio
drc...@ix.netcom.com
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (Copyright 1980) says he was born in
1941 in Madrid. The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music (Copyright 1988)
says he was born in Madrid on 21 Jan 1937. Any other sources out there?
Don.
On 5/17/96 5:55PM, in message <4nisl6$5...@rjo02.embratel.net.br>, Sergio
Henrique <serg...@embratel.net.br@embratel.net.br> wrote:
--
_______________________________________________________
Donald R. Craig .:. drc...@ix.netcom.com
Cleveland, Ohio .:. Voice: (216) 241-6426
USA .:. Fax: (216) 241-0691
_______________________________________________________
Lis K. Froding
In <4nisl6$5...@rjo02.embratel.net.br>
serg...@embratel.net.br@embratel.net.br (Sergio Henrique) writes:
>
> I read in Opera Web (http://www.doit.it/OperaWeb) that Placido
Domingo
>was born in 1934. That would make him 62 years old nowadays. Can
anyone
>confirm on this ? It is even said that he claims to be born in 1941,
which
>they claim is not true.
> Regards,
> Sergio
I believe he turned 55 in late January this year, which means he was
born in 1941.
Lis
Margaret Harrison
In <4nisl6$5...@rjo02.embratel.net.br>
serg...@embratel.net.br@embratel.net.br (Sergio Henrique) writes:
>
> I read in Opera Web (http://www.doit.it/OperaWeb) that Placido
Domingo was born in 1934. That would make him 62 years old nowadays.
Can anyone confirm on this ? It is even said that he claims to be born
in 1941, which they claim is not true.
> Regards,
> Sergio
Baker's Biographical Dictionary, edited by Nicolas Slonimsky, and a
highly reliable source, gives his date of birth as January 21, 1941.
Which I would agree with, as he sure doesn't seem to be over 60. I'd
say mid-50's is about right.
--
Peggy Harrison
(Peg...@ix.netcom.com)
"Music for a while shall all your cares beguile"
R. Taylor
In article <N.051796....@clv-oh1-14.ix.netcom.com>,
drc...@ix.netcom.com wrote:
>The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (Copyright 1980) says he was born in
>1941 in Madrid. The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music (Copyright
1988)
>says he was born in Madrid on 21 Jan 1937. Any other sources out there?
>
>Don.
He used to be born in 1937 until he adopted the Bjoerling age reduction
method of shaving four years off his age.
There are many references that still list Bjoerling's birth as 1911. This
false birth year led to many being baffled by the great "teenage" live
recordings. His 17 year old Rodolfo makes a little more sense when you
realize he was 21.
Dan Ford
According to Who's Who in America, Domingo was born 21 Jan 1941, married
Marta (no date), student in conservatory Mexico City (no date), debut in
1961 (at twenty!). Clearly this has been fudged.
Compare with Pavarotti: born 12 Oct 1935, married 1961, diploma (named)
1955, debut 1961.
I think you can probably bank the fact that Pav is 60. Probably Placi is
also. -- Dan
Hans C Hoff
drc...@ix.netcom.com wrote:
>
> The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (Copyright 1980) says he was born in
> 1941 in Madrid. The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music (Copyright 1988)
> says he was born in Madrid on 21 Jan 1937. Any other sources out there?
>
The Oxford Dictionary of Opera (1992, ed. updated 1994) has: born in
Madrid 21 Jan 1941.
HCH
Lis K. Froding
In <Pine.OSF.3.91a.96051...@christa.unh.edu> Dan Ford
Sigh.
Domingo published his first book, MY FIRST FORTY YEARS, in 1981. This
book as well as his second book, THE WORLD OF PLACIDO DOMINGO, is
filled with dates for all sorts of events. Unless he had planned quite
early in his life to lie about his age many years hence, he was indeed
born in 1941. It's unlikely he would be planning already in his early
20s to obscure his age later on, so if one goes back to those sources,
there seems to be no doubt that he is at this point in time 55 years
old. The first book goes into detail about his early years in Mexico
as well as his very hectic schedule in Israel, at which point he didn't
know he was going to become world famous.
So, the man is 55. Let's just leave it at that, ok?
Lis
frank hemming
Dan Ford <d...@christa.unh.edu> wrote:
>
>According to Who's Who in America, Domingo was born 21 Jan 1941, married
>Marta (no date), student in conservatory Mexico City (no date), debut in
>1961 (at twenty!). Clearly this has been fudged.
>
>Compare with Pavarotti: born 12 Oct 1935, married 1961, diploma (named)
>1955, debut 1961.
>
>I think you can probably bank the fact that Pav is 60. Probably Placi is
>also. -- Dan
>
>
>On 17 May 1996 serg...@embratel.net.br wrote:
>
>> I read in Opera Web (http://www.doit.it/OperaWeb) that Placido Domingo
>> was born in 1934. That would make him 62 years old nowadays. Can anyone
>> confirm on this ? It is even said that he claims to be born in 1941, which
>> they claim is not true.
>> Regards,
>> Sergio
>>
>>
I've read several books about Domingo, including his autobiography, and
they all say that he is born in 1941. The most credible proof, however,
comes from Daniel Snowman, who has written two books about him: "The
world of PD" - 85 and "PD's tales of the opera" - 95. Snowman says that
because there has been questions about Domingo's date of birth, he has
done a bit of research, and in Madrid he found Domingo's original birth
certificate stating that Placido Domingo was born in Madrid on 21 January
1941.
This ought to clear up the confusion. And why should Domingo want to lie
about his age anyway?
MetteL
Carmen Z. Catoni
Dan Ford <d...@christa.unh.edu> wrote:
>
>According to Who's Who in America, Domingo was born 21 Jan 1941, married
>Marta (no date), student in conservatory Mexico City (no date), debut in
>1961 (at twenty!). Clearly this has been fudged.
Not so, he is quite younger than the Pav. The Italian guy was a star at
la Scala in the mid sixties already (remember the bizarre Capuletti with
Scotto and Aragall). Domingo in or around 1965 made a first appearence in
Barcelona's Liceo as a member of a Mexican troupe performing mexican
operas, I think this was before his NYCO days. The Pav had already been
a Sutherland protegee for some time when in 1962 made his American debut
in Miami with Lucia opposite the Down Under girl.
>
>Compare with Pavarotti: born 12 Oct 1935, married 1961, diploma (named)
>1955, debut 1961.
Marta is Domingo's second wife. He married very young and at 18, still a
student was a daddy. He later divorced and ended up with Marta who gave
him to children. His eldest son also was a young dad, So Domingo was a
grandaddy at 36!!!! This was in the mid 70︿ so probably the 1941 date is
the correct one.
HAPPY LISTENING!!!
Luis A. Catoni
Miami, Fl.
Margaret Harrison
>Marta (no date), student in conservatory Mexico City (no date), debut in
>1961 (at twenty!). Clearly this has been fudged.
>
>1955, debut 1961.
>
>also. -- Dan
>
>
According to Domingo's Autobiography _My First Forty Years_, he ran off and
married at 16, and had a son at 17, and was separated a year later. He says "In
a sense, getting married accelerated my career," because he had to earn money to
support his wife, child and himself. He says his first performances were with
his parents' Zarzuela company, where he sang as a baritone. He mentions his next
job as being in a Mexico City company of _My Fair Lady_, in a small
part. He also mentions jobs in _The Redhead_ and _The Merry Widow_.
He says he auditioned for the National Opera when he was only 18, in
1959, and was taken on to sing comprimario roles in its "International
season". He says his first role was Borsa in Rigoletto. He also says
part of his job was to coach singers
His autobiography says he started studying at the convervatory at age
14, after his piano teacher died. It also gives the date of his
marriage as August 1, 1962.
Lars Österholm
I am sorry to inform you that You are completely wrong regarding the age of Jussi Bjoerling.
There is 100 % proof that he was born on February 5 1911 (a copy of the mid-wife's appointment
book stating the place and birth of Jussi as Feb 5 1911 can be seen at the Jussi Bjoerling Museum
in Borlange, Sweden. There is also a copy of his first school certificate when he was 7 statingg
the same date of birth. He was christened in the Stora Tuna Church on March 18 1911 according to
the church book. Would anybody at that age (7 years old in 1918) have had any interestt
to falsify his date of birth in order to make his age at the operatic debut many years later more
impressive? How did the mid-wife know that he was going to become the greatest tenor of the
world.. I think that You should stop sppeading false information in this way!!!!
In A Jussi Bjoerling Phonography, 2nd Ed by Harald Henrysson you can read more about Jussis'
birth. His father and mother were married on July 19 1909, the same year as Jussi's elder brother
Olle was born.
If anybody wants to know more about Bjoerling please contact Harald Henrysson at
henr...@msmail.borlange.se.
Regards
Lars
Geir K. Gjerdrum
R. Taylor wrote:
> He used to be born in 1937 until he adopted the Bjoerling age reduction
> method of shaving four years off his age.
>
> There are many references that still list Bjoerling's birth as 1911. This
> false birth year led to many being baffled by the great "teenage" live
> recordings. His 17 year old Rodolfo makes a little more sense when you
> realize he was 21.
This is absolute nonsense.
My suggestion to you would be to devote more time to enjoy the singing
of Bjorling (and Domingo) instead of wasting your (and ours) energy
spreading naive gossip about dead (and living) singers.
But as I come to think of it maybe you are right! Pherhaps Swedish
authorities and are engaged in a conspiracy to deceive the opera loving
public of the world into thinking that Bjorling was five years younger?
It is a dangerous world out there. We really can’t trust
anyone....except R. Taylor of course!
--
Geir K. Gjerdrum
Bergen, Norway
My hope is that this signature text will make reders
less likely to notice that my real message is, at best,
mediocre and probably a total waste of time.
Derrick Everett
Geir K. Gjerdrum wrote:
>
> R. Taylor wrote:
>
> > He used to be born in 1937 until he adopted the Bjoerling age reduction
> > method of shaving four years off his age.
> >
> > There are many references that still list Bjoerling's birth as 1911. This
> > false birth year led to many being baffled by the great "teenage" live
> > recordings. His 17 year old Rodolfo makes a little more sense when you
> > realize he was 21.
>
> This is absolute nonsense.
>
> My suggestion to you would be to devote more time to enjoy the singing
> of Bjorling (and Domingo) instead of wasting your (and ours) energy
> spreading naive gossip about dead (and living) singers.
Thanks, Geir.
M.v.h.
--
- Derrick Everett
- Check out my home page: http://www.sn.no/~deverett
Lis K. Froding
In <31A6D6...@fil.uib.no> "Geir K. Gjerdrum"
<Geir.G...@fil.uib.no> writes:
>
>R. Taylor wrote:
>
>> He used to be born in 1937 ......
Geir Gjerdum write:
>This is absolute nonsense.
...
>But as I come to think of it maybe you are right! Pherhaps Swedish
>authorities and are engaged in a conspiracy to deceive the opera
>loving public of the world into thinking that Bjorling was five years
>younger? It is a dangerous world out there. We really can’t trust
>anyone....except R. Taylor of course!
>
>--
>Geir K. Gjerdrum
>Bergen, Norway
It seems that this a Dane with a Swedish greatgrandfather will side
with the Norwegian here.
Not sure we can trust those Swedes, in particular about the age of a
dead singer ;-)
No offense, anyone.
Lis
R. Taylor
In article <31A765...@sn.no>, Derrick Everett <deve...@sn.no> wrote:
>Geir K. Gjerdrum wrote:
>>
>> R. Taylor wrote:
>>
>> > He used to be born in 1937 until he adopted the Bjoerling age reduction
>> > method of shaving four years off his age.
>> >
>> > There are many references that still list Bjoerling's birth as 1911. This
>> > false birth year led to many being baffled by the great "teenage" live
>> > recordings. His 17 year old Rodolfo makes a little more sense when you
>> > realize he was 21.
>>
>> This is absolute nonsense.
>>
>> My suggestion to you would be to devote more time to enjoy the singing
>> of Bjorling (and Domingo) instead of wasting your (and ours) energy
>> spreading naive gossip about dead (and living) singers.
>
>Thanks, Geir.
Well, this has obviously gotten the Swedes dander up. I meant no
disrespect. I love Bjoerling and think he was the greatest tenor that
ever lived. However, there =are= mentions in prominent reference material
that he was 53 when he died in 1960 and also that his voice changed while
on tour with the Bjoerling quartet in 1920. Both of these point to a
birth year other than 1911. I really don't care how old he was and I
don't understand how this is hurtful in any way to Mr. Bjoerling's memory.
So, go have a shot of Absolut.
BTW, I love my Erricson digital cellular phone (no joke!).
Geir K. Gjerdrum
R. Taylor wrote:
> Well, this has obviously gotten the Swedes dander up.
Norwegian not Swedish....remember the great Flagstad from Norway who
also faked her age She was actually 87 when she recorded Isolde. I
remember reading it in something I wrote myself.
Geir K. Gjerdrum
Bergen, Norway (Not Sweden)
Lis K. Froding
In <rvtaylor-290...@192.0.2.1> rvta...@netcom.com (R.
Taylor) writes:
>
>In article <31A765...@sn.no>, Derrick Everett <deve...@sn.no>
wrote:
>
>>Geir K. Gjerdrum wrote:
>>>
>>> R. Taylor wrote:
>>>
>>> > He used to be born in 1937 until he adopted the Bjoerling age
reduction
>>> > method of shaving four years off his age.
>>> >
>>> > There are many references that still list Bjoerling's birth as
1911. This
>>> > false birth year led to many being baffled by the great "teenage"
live
>>> > recordings. His 17 year old Rodolfo makes a little more sense
when you
>>> > realize he was 21.
>>>
>>> This is absolute nonsense.
>>>
>>> My suggestion to you would be to devote more time to enjoy the
singing
>>> of Bjorling (and Domingo) instead of wasting your (and ours) energy
>>> spreading naive gossip about dead (and living) singers.
>>
>>Thanks, Geir.
>
>--
> rvta...@netcom.com
What Swedes? Geir Gjerdrum is Norwegian. I'm Danish. Did any Swedes
speak up about this? I think you've got us "Scandihoovians" mixed up.
May I suggest a destination for your summer vacation?
Lis
Geir K. Gjerdrum
> What Swedes? Geir Gjerdrum is Norwegian. I'm Danish. Did any Swedes
> speak up about this? I think you've got us "Scandihoovians" mixed up.
> May I suggest a destination for your summer vacation?
>
> Lis
Thank you Lis!
My first suggestion is the Jussi Bjorling museum in Sweden!
Geir K. Gjerdrum
Bergen, Norway (Not Sweden)
My hope is that this signature text will make readers
Lars Österholm
Well,
I am a swede (although I was born in Finland). I live very close to Mr Harald Henrysson
author of A JB Phonography and Manager of the JB Museum.
Regards
Lars