It is rare these days that opera singers attain star status, but Placido Domingo, the current director of Los Angeles Opera and Chairman of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), is one of them. He has performed around the world more than 4,000 times, more than any other opera singer in history and has particularly attained fame as part of the operatic trio The Three Tenors, along with Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti.
But as Digital Music News (DMN) reports, all these achievements might be overshadowed by mounting accusations of sexual abuse. At the moment, these accusations come from eight currently unnamed singers, one dancer, and a number of witnesses to this abuse. According to the report, the abuses span three decades starting in the late ’80s and took place at the venues “that included opera companies where he held managerial positions.”
DMN also quotes an AP report that six more women reported “suggestive overtures”, including one “woman who said he repeatedly asked her out on dates after hiring her.” The same AP report notes that more than thirty other people, “singers, dancers, orchestra musicians, voice teachers, and an administrator” confirmed Domingo’s inappropriate behavior towards women, some said that he pursued younger women “with impunity”.
Domingo came out with a press statement which in general said that “the allegations from these unnamed individuals dating back as many as thirty years are deeply troubling, and as presented, inaccurate.” For its part, Los Angeles Opera said that it will hire outside counsel to investigate these allegations.
