The Italian composer and harpsichordist wrote over five hundred compositions for his pupil and patron Maria Barbara of Braganza, daughter of King John V of Portugal, who became Queen of Spain. The celebrated keyboard player George Malcolm talks in interview about this self-effacing man and demonstrates the power and originality of his work at the harpsichord. He also gives a performance of Scarlatti’s Salve Regina with the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jennifer Smith.
Plácido Domingo: My Greatest Roles
In this feature-length documentary Plácido Domingo describes his favourite roles in opera – and in so doing tells his own life story more fully and poignantly than ever before. The programme is full of clips of his performances, and seasoned with contributions from colleagues such as Kiri te Kanawa, Luciano Pavarotti, and Zubin Mehta. This film sums up Domingo’s whole career as a tenor; now that he sings baritone roles it is a comprehensive overview of the entire tenor oeuvre of the man described by BBC Music Magazine as ‘the greatest singer of all time’. Our guide is the great man himself, in interviews edited from eight hours of conversation in which Domingo reveals more about his life, his thoughts about singing, opera and the world, and what drives him to achieve yet more goals than he has ever done on television before. As he says, “If I rest, I rust”. Most of all this film celebrates some of the finest tenor performances ever filmed, with extensive extracts of what he has selected as his eleven finest roles.