Domingo feted on 50th year at the Met

NEW YORK — Placido Domingo’s eyes watered and his voice quavered. After portraying dozens of characters over a half-century on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House, he got emotional being himself.

“For us, the opera singers, it is just like Frank Sinatra said: New York, New York, if you made it, you made it everywhere,” the 77-yearold singer from Spain said Friday night when he was honored on stage for the 50th anniversary of his Met debut.

Domingo’s career with the Met started a few days ahead of schedule on Sept. 28, 1968, when he replaced an indisposed Franco Corelli as Maurizio in “Adriana Lecouvreur.” Domingo’s performance Friday in the title role of “Gianni Schicchi” was his 52nd role and 695th appearance at the Met as a singer and conductor.

During a small ceremony, Met general manager Peter Gelb gave Domingo a pair of gifts.

“Since you have owned this stage for your entire career, we thought we’d give you a piece of it. So this was removed from the stage earlier this week,” Gelb said before bestowing a chunk of flooring.

Then he presented Domingo with his leather jacket from a 1990s performance of Verdi’s “Otello.” The jacket had been dipped in gold.

Domingo’s wife, Marta; son, Alvaro, and two grandchildren looked on as a montage of Domingo’s career was shown, including a scene from “Sesame Street” with Miss Piggy.

“The generations go, go, go. I’m very happy to be surviving,” Domingo said.