Bingo, Domingo

Image: Retired opera singer Patricia Wulf poses for a portrait in her home in rural northern Virginia, Friday, July 12, 2019. Wulf is one of nine women who have told The Associated Press that they were sexually harassed by Domingo in encounters that took place over three decades, at venues including Washington Opera where the opera superstar was artistic director and later general director. When she got hired to do solo roles at Washington Opera it seemed like the experience of a lifetime, she said, but it quickly became a nightmare. Wulf says she is "relieved to finally come out" and step forward so she can help other women "be strong enough to say no" to men in positions of power. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)


Bingo, Domingo!

You're finally in the reely, reely big leagues!

​Only one news source today, the Associated Press, because all of the other outlets are quoting it anyway:

Women: Opera’s Domingo abused power to sexually harass them

• For decades, Placido Domingo, one of the most celebrated and powerful men in opera, has tried to pressure women into sexual relationships by dangling jobs and then sometimes punishing the women professionally when they refused his advances, numerous accusers told The Associated Press.

Note that Domingo is not the most celebrated man in opera (prolific, yes), no matter what he may imagine about himself. But he's joined a long list of power types who've grossly disgraced themselves.

How vague can one want to be when Domingo describes the accusations as "inaccurate" -- not false, just inaccurate. I don't even want to know what minute differences he might imagine.

I hope you will carefully watch the video of Ms Wulf; she is entirely credible and an example of how women can be made to fear for their careers because of egoists like Domingo and, even after many years, still vividly recall the angst, the fear, the confusion, the personal invasion, the complete lack of respect shown to them by men who wielded the power to destroy everything they had worked for.

Domingo may be famous, but he is and has always been a bit, no a lot, too full of himself, and obviously sadly lacking in self-discipline. In order of actual singing talent I would say first: José Carreras who appears to have caused no scandals at all, and who came miraculously back from a medical prediction of a 1 in 10 chance of survival to participate in the first THREE TENORS concert in 1990. Then, Luciano Pavarotti who at least married the employee with whom he had fathered a child after divorcing his first wife. Then Domingo.

Part of me feels sorry for men who are so childishly egoistic and insecure that public approbation is not enough for them; they have to test the limits of their power; to see how much of it they can rob from other humans. It's sad, but it's also evil.

Finally, I can't help wondering why all three singers were victims of cancer, leukemia (Carreras), pancreatic (Pavarotti), colon (Domingo). Somebody should do a study on the incidence of cancer in opera singers.

A condition that appears well-studied is Dysphonia, a common voice malady among operatic singers. The operatic voice is not natural; it is created by deliberate manipulation of the voice box.  It seems to me to be a lot like foot binding, or the terrible, terrible practice that produced Italy's Castrati.

Humans have never been satisfied with what comes naturally, for some strange reason.

Still, Domingo's a pretty good singer, so if you weren't one of the reportedly billion people who watched the very first Three Tenors concert, here it is thanks to a YouTube uploader.  Enjoy!​
​Program here.