Anna Netrebko & Yusif Eyvazov Attend Domingo 40th Anniversary

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Anna Netrebko and fiancé Yusif Eyvazov attend the 40th Anniversary of Plácido Domingo's Salzburg Festival stage debut. Performers for the July 30 concert included Maria Agresta, Ana María Martínez, Krassimira Stoyanova, and Rolando Villazón. See a photo of the singers on stage from the Gala, after the jump.

Puerto Rican Soprano Ana María Martínez Gets High Ranking

Viva Latina: Soprano Ana María Martínez
(Photo: Tom Specht)

"Now it is Ana María Martínez’s turn, a soprano singer that the London’s Opera Magazine ranks among the current top lyric sopranos. She is a Grammy Award winner with an international career that spans the world’s most important opera houses and concert halls. With a repertoire that encompasses opera’s most intriguing and diverse leading female roles, she engages her audiences time and time again with signature roles and captivating recordings. Ana María was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the daughter of Puerto Rican opera singer Evangelína Colón and Ángel Martínez, a Cuban psychoanalyst. She moved with her parents to the United States and grew up a few blocks north of the Lincoln Center in New York, spending summers in Puerto Rico. Her first stage experience was in Puerto Rico, as Laurey in a high school production of Oklahoma! Ana María went on to study music in the prestigious Juilliard School, graduating in 1993, and rose to prominence when she won the Plácido Domingo International Voice Competition Operalia 1995. She went on to work with the Houston Grand Opera studio, which gave her a platform from which to launch an international career. Today, Martínez has sung every major lyric role (including Mimi in La Bohème, Violetta in La Traviata, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro) in venues such as the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the San Francisco Opera." [Source]

Ana María Sánchez And Plácido Domingo To Perform At World Cup

Ana María Sánchez quer cantar música brasileira!

"Placido Domingo will sing before a World Cup final for the sixth time, announcing Wednesday he will perform at Rio de Janeiro's HSBC Arena on July 11. The concert featuring the 73-year-old classic musical star will take place two days before the final at Maracana Stadium. The show also is scheduled to include pianist Lang Lang, soprano Ana Maria Martinez, conductor Eugene Kohn and the Orquestra Sinfonica Brasileira. Domingo has attended every World Cup final since 1970 with the exception of 1978 in Argentina. He sang the 1982 theme song in Spain, 'El Mundial.' He said the program next month will include classical music and Brazilian songs. 'I always think music and sport are the two great things many people can understand without any need to really speak the language,' Domingo said in a telephone interview from London, where he is to conduct Puccini's Tosca next week at The Royal Opera. 'I have friends from all around the world, and they are really fanatics of soccer and music. It's great to see many of the people I know.' [Source]

Opera Singers Join Andrea Bocelli in Central Park Concert

South African soprano Pretty Yende is a
frequent concert guest of Mr. Bocelli.

"Ordinarily it is difficult for officials to estimate the crowd size for a concert in Central Park. But every attendee at Thursday night’s free performance there by the superstar crossover tenor Andrea Bocelli had to have a ticket, obtained in advance. And 60,000 were given out....Mr. Bocelli’s fans seemed thrilled, rain or no rain. There remains a considerable divide between the passions of the audience he has reached (his recordings have sold more than 65 million, according to his Web site) and the assessment of most music critics....The soprano Ana María Martínez joined Mr. Bocelli for the impassioned

Puerto Rican soprano
Ana María Martínez

duet 'Vicino a te,' from Giordano’s Andrea Chénier. And the soprano Pretty Yende was his partner in the 'O soave fanciulla' duet from Puccini’s Bohème. But once again, other than the announcement of her name, there was no introduction of Ms. Yende, a young artist from South Africa who was a co-winner of Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition this summer." [Source] The New York Philharmonic was the back-up band for the evening with Music Director Alan Gilbert conducting the whole affair.

Three Tenors (Domingo, Vargas, Cura) and A Soprano (Martínez)

Three of the world's most famous tenors will be taking part in the International Music Festival Český Krumlov this summer. The festival begins July 15th with Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas singing a concert of arias (Verdi, Donizetti, Cilea and Puccini) with the Symphony Orchestra under conductor Ondrej Lenárd in the Garden City Brewery. Called "Singer of Singers" by the Czech press, this event marks his first return to the Czech Republic in six years. Next up is Argentinean tenor José Cura performing one of his signature roles, Canio in I Pagliacci at the Revolving Auditorium on August 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10. The final gala concert will feature Spanish

Cura, Martínez, Vargas

tenor Plácido Domingo on August 20th with special guest soprano Ana María Martínez and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eugene Kohn at the City Parking P2 for an open-air concert. [Source, Source]

Plácido Domingo: Birthday Gala For A Titan

Domingo with Queen Sofía and musical guests Conlon, Berganza, Terfel,  Arteta and Martínez 

A gala blowout beyond compare took place at the Teatro Real for tenor Plácido Domingo's 70th birthday. The program, performers and guest list are after the jump.