Veni vidi vici. Plácido Domingo could rightly have said these famous words after Thursday night, 13 June 2013. The sold-out Ziggo Dome (yes, you read it correctly, the huge hall was filled to capacity!) went wild as if it were a pop concert. Rightly so. Although the maestro is no longer the youngest, his voice does not want to know anything about getting older.

© Vera Klijn

The evening was full of surprises, which only added to the fun:

1. Despite the despairing reports in the newspapers, the hall was almost completely full.

2. There was no programme booklet. The names of the two guest sopranos were projected on the screen, and what were they singing?: the guessing contest was on

3. The Orkest der Lage Landen, an orchestra I had never heard of before, amazed me. Led by Walter Proost, they played the stars from the sky.

© Vera Klijn

Already with the very first song, the overture of Der fliegende Holländer, I was on the edge of my seat. The Nabucco overture was more than compelling and the lighter genre (Leichte Kavallerie by Franz von Suppé) also involved the audience. Proost turned and conducted the audience, who clapped along with the orchestra.

4. I was highly surprised at how many people had actually dressed up! Sure, the obligatory jeans were more than represented, but I also noticed ladies in evening wear. Like it or not: it’s always mood-enhancing.

5. The repertoire. No one took it too lightly. We went from Wagner to Verdi and via operetta and zarzuela we ended up with some musicals. And all at top level!

6. It was a night out in a temple to the lighter muse, so we got something of a show to go with it. Lights, more lights, and beams of light; a veritable lightshow.

©Vera Klijn

Is Domingo the world’s best tenor? For me, yes, especially when we’re talking about the last 30 years of the previous century and the first 10 of this one. Now that his high notes are failing, he has turned to baritone roles and he does so with his usual abandon and musicality.

© EPA

No, he is not a baritone, his timbre is still that of a tenor, but he manages to be more convincing in this repertoire. Perhaps we should just conclude that he is the most musical of all the tenors? A phenomenon born only once every hundred years?


His Siegmund still stands like a house and the Verdi duets ( La Traviata and Il Trovatore, no easy fare for a baritone) proved not only his musicality, but also the humane side of the man and the artist Domingo. Every time his partner was ‘speaking’, he took a step back and let her shine in the spotlight.

©Vera Klijn

After the break, it was time for some light(er) music. ‘Dein is mein ganzes herz’ was met with cheers from the audience right from the first bars and then the fun was unstoppable.


‘So muss allein ich bleiben’ from Die Fledermaus was just about the funniest I have ever heard. Up went the legs in a cheerful dance and the audience participated with gusto!


After the wonderfully beautiful ‘De España vengo’ (El niño Judío by Pablo Luna), sung by Angel Blue, and a duet from Luisa Fernanda, we arrived at ‘Amor, vida de mi vida’ (Maravilla by Moreno) via the delightful ‘Tarantula’ from La Tempranica. Here I had to shed a tear, but that didn’t last long, because then came the encores.

© Sander Boonstra

‘I could have danced all night’, ‘Besame mucho’ (hmm… I wouldn’t have anything against that), ‘Yes I can, no you can’t’ from Annie get your gun and, to conclude, the ‘If I loved you’ from Carousel, sung by all three soloists – I loved it.

The two young sopranos accompanying Domingo, Angel Blue and Micaëla Oeste, were a delight. My preference was for the very charismatic Blue. She managed to convince me not only in the lighter genre but also in ‘Dich, teure Halle’ from Tannhaüser.

Who is afraid of Ziggo Dome? I, at least, no longer am. The venue is indeed immense, but somehow it feels intimate and the acoustics are really very good. Of course the singers sang with a microphone – there is no other way – but strangely enough, it hardly bothered me at all. The sound came across very naturally

© Vera Klijn