Internationally acclaimed tenor Placido Domingo will be making a welcome return to Taiwan next week for a very special one-off concert at Taipei's Municipal Stadium (
Attracting thousands to his shows each time he appears in Taiwan, organizers anticipate Domingo's upcoming concert to break all previous box office records. In order to accommodate the large numbers of fans expected to turn out, come rain or shine, Acer Ticketing has issued a staggering 35,000 tickets. Of these it expects at least 90 percent to be sold out in advance of next Friday's show.
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As part of a mini Asian tour titled A Beautiful Coincidence and aimed at promoting peace and understanding between nations, Domingo has left his two Three Tenor sidekicks, Jose Carrera and Luciano Pavarotti, behind for his latest sojourn in Formosa. The tenor will instead be sharing the stage with two of the world's leading sopranos, Cuban-Puerto Rican Ana Maria Martinez and China's Zhang Liping (
PHOTO COURTESY OF NEW ASPECT
Arriving on the international scene with leading roles in the late 1990s, the Puerto Rican born Martinez rose to prominence after being awarded top honors in the 1995 Placido Domingo International Voice Competition Operalia. Domingo was reportedly so taken by Martinez's vocal prowess that it enabled her to leapfrog the normal operatic channels and she was sharing a stage with the renowned tenor within six months. Since the mid-1990s, the operatic pair has made numerous appearances at concert halls and outdoor festivals throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia.
A graduate of Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music (
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While absorbing arias will have opera buffs transfixed next Friday, the home crowd will have even more to scream about when the evening's special guest sets the stage alight with some less libretto-based numbers. Taiwan's favorite pop diva, Chang Hui-mei (
Although opera purists might be aghast at such a coupling, Domingo is certainly no stranger to the mainstream. Recent non-operatic works include an appearance on Carlos Santana's latest star-studded album Shaman -- an album on which Domingo shares CD space with the likes of Seal, Macy Gray and Dido.
Tickets cost from between NT$800 and NT$6,000 and are available from Acer Ticketing Outlets nationwide. Domingo, Martinez, Zhang and Chang will take to the stage of the Taipei Municipal Stadium (
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