Placido Domingo and Katherine Jenkins in Christchurch
Last night I got to go and hear Placido Domingo and Katherine Jenkins in concert with the New Zealand National Youth Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Kohn—and it was ah-maz-ing! Words really can’t express the wonderfulness of the evening—the colour, the music, the voices—but I might try a little later in the day! 🙂 For the moment though, I’m still in wow mode!
2 pm: OK, back again, although I plan to keep it pretty simple. But last night’s event worked for me on a great many levels:
- firstly, even at (almost) 70, Placido Domingo still has a great voice. And as was so rightly mentioned in the programme, his has been one of the defining voices of world opera for 50 years. So what a tremendous privilege to be able to hear a singer of such calibre and gravitas live.
- I loved the generoisty with which he and Katherine Jenkins shared the stage with each other and the orchestra. Ms Jenkins has a very beautiful voice—and an impressive array of beautiful and colourful dresses!—but what really shone through was her personality and grace.
- I can only imagine what a thrill it must have been for the National Youth Orchestra to have the opportunity to work, not just with singers like Placido Domingo and Katherine Jenkins, but with a conductor of the calibre of Eugene Kohn. Although the young musicians’ performance was not flawless, overall I thought they played tremendously well and did themselves and their country proud—and several of their orchestral features were highlights for me.
- Most of all it was just the event. The auditorium—a sports stadium, but then this is post-earthquake Christchurch—was full to its 8000-seat capacity and everyone was there to celebrate and enjoy. And judging by the smiles on every face as we finally left (after a prolonged encore!) no one went away disappointed.
To celebrate what? Well, after the year we’ve had, I would simply have to say: ‘being here.’ And listening to last night’s combination of voice and music made me feel that was more than worthwhile.
Also, it was a benefit concert—with over $300,000 raised to rebuild the Court Theatre and for the Canterbury Symphony Orchestra. Good news all round—and a huge thank you to everyone involved in achieving that.
Transcendent Beauty.
That is how I would describe it.
Andrew, it “worked” for me on so many levels—I’ve just added some of them to my blog post!
Wow. What a wonderful evening, and just what you all need after so much cr*p. Here’s to more events like this.
Thank you, Morag—& ‘hear, hear’, I say, to your “more events like this!”
Oh, it sounds just wonderful! What an amazing thing to get to see. I’m so pleased you had such a fun night out (and all the 8000 others who all needed it, I’m sure).
That would be the other 7999! 😉 And it was amazing, one of those special events that you have to be there to really appreciate. Also, I suppose, in the right frame of mind—but I think everyone in the audience was ready to enjoy themselves.
I can imagine that it must have been wonderful to hear Placido Domingo and Katherine Jenkins sing live. Both of them are amazing singers with big voices. This kind of music is very beautiful and relaxing.
Seregil, I think it was just one of those ‘special” events when the alchemy of voice and music, the mood of the performers and of the audience, all came together to create an evening ‘out of the box.’ I suspect a big part of that may have been Placido Domingo himself, the magic of his voice and pre-eminence in the operatic world and the way that seeemd to ‘lift’ those around him—for example, he conducted the National Youth Orchestra for one of the encores, a performance that seemed to have that spark of extra enjoyment and warmth.
Can you please tell me the name of the song that Kathy Jenkins sang with Placedo Domingo on Dancing with the Stars this week? What CD is it on? thank you so much. God Bless you
Jane, I am sorry, I did not watch the show, so cannot help you with this one.