PLACIDO DOMINGO, KALLEN ESPERIAN, AND THE CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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In his arena concerts Domingo has an established formula: he teams up with a young, appealing soprano, a minor-league conductor, and an orchestra that accompanies the singers and plays a couple of operatic overtures as filler. Taking turns with the soprano, he performs a few popular arias, and they join in some duets. They are also generous with their encores. This works well for all concerned: the audience, who get a pleasant evening’s entertainment; the soprano, who gets exposure and the chance to say she’s sung with Domingo; the conductor and instrumentalists, who get a gig; and the promoters, who make some money from a crowd that’s not prone to trashing the setting. Purists may sneer, but anything that exposes more people to good music and provides musicians with employment is fine with me.
On Friday night Domingo brought his arena format to the Ravinia Festival, where it proved a bit more problematic. Although thousands of people carpeted the lawn listening to the singing via loudspeaker, Ravinia is not an arena and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is not the usual musical aggregation found playing in a stadium, to say the least. Sure, this is a lot less formal than Orchestra Hall, but when the cheap seats inside the pavilion cost $100 each, the audience deserves a little more.
Five encores were offered to the enthusiastic audience, with introductions by a relaxed and charming Domingo: a zarzuela aria, Puccini’s “O mio babbino caro,” a duet from Lehar’s Merry Widow (with a little waltzing thrown in for good measure), “Granada,” and the brindisi from La traviata. In some ways, this was the most successful part of the program; it was more relaxed, and Domingo seemed to be having more fun.
