MICHAEL WALSH MUSIC CORRESPONDENT. When it comes to across-the-board musical talent Spain is giving the rest of Europe a run for its money. There is however one ball it cannot afford to take its eye off; that of the opera ball and its greatest-ever opera star, José Plácido Domingo (82). His trade mark maxim; If I rest, I rust sums this enigmatic achiever up perfectly. As he reaches out for his 70^th birthday few know that his generosity of spirit verges on the saintly and his gifts lie way beyond his magnificent voice.

Plácido first came to international attention as one of the three tenors. This performance revealed as it did with Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti, his enormous talent, his sense of humor and his natural rapport with audiences. Having performed in more than 128 operas he is the world’s greatest working tenor.

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Madrid born but raised in Mexico the opera star is also an accomplished pianist and orchestral conductor. The latter role is reserved for holistic musicians so one can assume his encyclopedic knowledge of these musical genres.

Born into a highly musical family he made his first public performance at the age of seventeen. His name by the way means placid Sunday. From largely Mexican roots this likeable artiste stormed the United States, especially when at the age of twenty-eight he substituted for Franco Corelli to sing with the equally celebrated Renata Tibaldi.

He opened the season with New York’s Metropolitan Opera 21 times; four openings ahead of Enrico Caruso. The intensity of his humanity was at its most poignant when on the 19th of September 1985 he lost five members of his immediate family when the worst earthquake in Mexico’s history struck. Plácido Domingo reached exhaustion whilst helping rescue workers retrieve the calamity’s victims. Throughout the following year, he put on benefit concerts to raise funds to alleviate the suffering of the capital city’s inhabitants.

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For his selflessness, he was awarded the Aztec Eagle, the highest honor that Mexico can bestow on a non-national for acts of goodwill. Among many other awards is the coveted Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary: This in recognition of his many performances with the Hungarian State Opera and his natural love of Hungarian music. He is equally celebrated by numerous honors awarded to him throughout the world.

The story that Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo, because of their opposed nationalist standpoints, refuse to perform together is an urban myth. This accompanies the allegory that Placido secretly funded the Hermosa Foundation to fund the recovery of his contemporary rival when he fell ill through leukemia. Nevertheless, it was a touching story and gave hope and heart to people around the world; just as Placido does himself. PLEASE SHARE STORIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA