In 1969 a (relatively) young tenor names Plácido Domingo took over for a sick Franco Corelli in a production of Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur at the Metropolitan Opera and made his debut in the house which has brought him fame and fortune and has given opera lovers continued joy. Forty years later and now 67 years of age he has reprised the same role in that same opera and with the same company and while in his performances over the last couple of weeks he was not able to throw off the role with the same ease as before and even though parts of the score were transposed down to give him a greater comfort level in the top notes, Domingo's return was at least not the disaster we were subject to from late-edition Pavarotti. The burnished tone is still there and still has the ability to thrill.

"And the prize goes to - Plácido Domingo!" who last week was named the first recipient of the Birgit Nilsson prize for achievements in classical music. And as prizes go this is more Nobel than chopped liver - it comes with $1 million. Just what he needs - another million. It must have been a source of satisfaction to him that he was selected to receive the award by the renowned soprano herself before her death in 2005. It is difficult to deny his amazing achievements on the opera stage or to be other than gushing about his gorgeous instrument and I am very happy for him. I just so, so wish that whenever I think of him I didn't have to cope with that blot on his career known under the rubric The Three Tenors. For me that is a stain of Lady Macbeth-type permanence. I know I should get over it. I just can't. For me it's as if Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud had gone on the road reading chapters of Harry Potter.

Still on Domingo. The other evening I watched a video of Tan Dun's The First Emperor in which Domingo played the role of Emperor - surprisingly I think, the first role written specifically for him. This recording was of the world-premier performance which had been the occasion of another first - the first Met HD transmission. I was at that show and left the theater reeling from the spectacle of Tan Dun's work and the excitement of this new facet to the presentation of opera. I had not been overwhelmed by the music of the opera but the production and staging were breath-taking. I watched the video to see whether my view would change now that I have seen almost all of the Met transmissions and that therefore the event is no longer new to me. It really has not. The music still leaves me feeling somewhat ho-hum. But the spectacle! It is as amazing now as it seemed then.

For those of you who like to watch streaming video on your computer a new website is delivering some excellent goodies. classicaltv.com will be airing live opera, plays and concerts on a pay-to-play basis. I saw the first one, La Bohème from the ENO, and am thinking to go back for other shows in due course. The quality of the visuals and the sound was good. They also had an interesting behind-the-scenes twist. At any time during the performance you could switch to a back-stage view where a presenter interviewed the performers while they waited to go on and that sort of thing. I rather liked it.

In other news. The scene is a photo-shoot for publicity shots for Bryn Terfel. An interviewer from the newspaper The Independent is there to speak with him. Terfel's opening words as he looks at the shots: 'Good! They got the Rolex!" I am disliking this guy more and more as time goes by.

That video clip of Angel Taomina that I posted last week was taken down from Youtube within hours of my posting. It would seem that the avalanche of criticism was too much for the lady. If I come across a copy of this clip anywhere I will be sure to re-post it. You do need to see it.

In the meantime here is a ten-minute opera 101. It's a hoot and right on the money!

Los Angeles Opera has just opened its latest Ring Cycle. Das Rheingold and Die Walküre are to be this season while Siegfried and Götterdämmerung are to be a part of next season's offerings. Looking at the photo gallery in the L.A.Times I am guessing that even with the outrageous $32 million price tag attached to this cycle you would be hard-pushed to find an audience prepared to sit through all four of these operas in one week. Of course maybe that's just me and my feelings about regie coming to the fore.

Last week saw the 200th anniversary of the birth of two great men whose contributions to our knowledge and culture continue to resonate in our everyday lives: Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln, both of whom were born on February 12th 1809. Apparently Lincoln was an opera-lover who just a month before his death had attended a performance of Mozart's Magic Flute. I had no idea about his being an opera fan before I read this.

Portland Opera's production of La Calisto opens in just over two weeks. I do not know this opera at all. Over the next seven days I shall listen to it a couple of times and tell you what I think. I tend to be a fan of baroque opera and so expect to be excited by what I hear.

Oh, by the way, when I entitled this post 'He's Back!" I was really thinking of Tiger Woods who this Wednesday will play his first competitive round of golf in about eight months. Go Tiger!

Have a great week.