My opera fix: Placido Domingo en Santiago

After a glorious month in Argentina I finally made the move to Chile. The bus ride from Mendoza was a beautiful, lazy trek through the Andes Mountains. The sky was crystal blue, the snow-capped peaks were blinding. Fortunately my first border crossing went smoothly, their police computer did not find any trouble with the name Murtha, we must be slicker than we think, and another stamp added to my passport. Santiago is a huge city with a perfect metro system. Clean, quick, and easy to use. As I was checkng into the hostel the woman at reception causally mentioned that the following night, Sunday, there would be a free concert in the Plaza de Armas at 8 PM. If I wanted more information I should consult the poster in the hall. Later, I thought, as off I went to settle in, take a shower, and learn another city map.

A bit later I decided to take a walk around my new neighborhood, Barrio Brasil, and find a cafe where I could sample the beer of Chile. Every country has its own beer, I can´t remember the Nicaraguan ones but in Argentina it is Quilmes, and I make it a point to sample them. The wine waits until dinner! Anyway, I caught a glimpse of the concert poster and stopped dead in my tracks. PLACIDO DOMINGO. In concert. For free. On my 2nd and final night in Santiago. To commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Teatro Municipal. I damn near screamed; after the disappointment of not being able to visit the Teatro Colon in Buneos Aires which is closed for a year of repairs, I could not have wished for a better opera fix in South America.

I started my day early on Sunday and found the Plaza de Armas in the midst of concert preparation. A line of Chileans were already queued for the few seats available by the stage, behind the VIP section of course, and I got as close to the action as I would all day. After the requisite sightseeing I prepared a picnic of wine, fruit, and cheese and headed over at 5:30. The square was insanely crowded, proving once again that it´s not that people don´t like opera they just don´t want to pay! I scrambled up onto some sort of contraption for a better view and got to see the man come out for his warm up. He was charming and casual, chatting briefly with the crowd in beautiful Spanish. Behind him was the cathedral, the sun was setting over the Andes Mountains in the distance. Actually he is quite handsome with the beard, white hair and of course the voice.

The concert started more or less on time. He was joined by the Chilean soprano Veronica Villareal, and I must confess that without Ian´s daily world-of-opera emails I had no idea who she was. I do know her choice of gown was questionable, diva or not. A hot summer night in South America does not strike me as the appropriate occasion for a full-length, long-sleeved black and white gown with the puffiest shoulders I have ever seen and more taffeta ruffles on a skirt than an entire flock of Texas debutantes. Placido opted for more casual in an all black suit, no tie, and played the dapper card perfectly. Her costume change later into something black with a matching feather boa was an enormous improvement but still looked a bit ridiculous. As usual I digress. The important thing to mention is that they began with opera and worked their way to more popular tunes. Two hours later they made the crowd swoon with traditional Chilean tunes that had couples dancing and children cheering. Not a bad way to spend an evening in Santiago.

NB: I wish the pictures were clearer but hopefully you get the idea!