So pleased to hear J.K.referring to Placido Domingo and the length of his career, and also him not wanting to overdo his voice and so nurture his wonderful gift.
JK tells us about Don Carlos. In English, one can say He told us a story or He told a story to us but one cannot say *He told us Don Carlos or *He told Don Carlos to us. It's not a direct object per se but is expressed in a prepositional phrase signifying topic of discussion. Sorry for the pedantry--the English teacher in me.
Note to the interviewer: learn to pronounce "Verdi" before asking your first question; you make the 19th Century Italian composer sound like a 21st Century African-American rap artist named Where-D (brother of Heavy-D?).
As every opera is composed words to note,or vice versa it should not be allowed to sing in a different language than the original. Verdi was forced by the French occupiers at the time to write the opera to French words. So it should be sung in the original!
The 'great expectations' of mobs. How weird it would be to grow up surrounded by these types. And how for a composer to expose truths without having issues re-visited? Glossed over. Who carries the lachrymosa? Chorus? . . . orchestra?. . . the drama? And when does it appear? The 'coda' for the work?
