It's hard to walk through the classical section of a record store without tripping over several Plácido Domingo compilations, so buyers can afford to be picky when choosing one. Any respectable account of his career needs to represent his place in the pantheon of great operatic voices, but also the unparalleled range and diversity of his work outside of that arena. Finally, it needs to home in on the tenor's best work, since the sheer volume and diversity of his discography make it less consistent than those of less ...
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It's hard to walk through the classical section of a record store without tripping over several Plácido Domingo compilations, so buyers can afford to be picky when choosing one. Any respectable account of his career needs to represent his place in the pantheon of great operatic voices, but also the unparalleled range and diversity of his work outside of that arena. Finally, it needs to home in on the tenor's best work, since the sheer volume and diversity of his discography make it less consistent than those of less ambitious singers. Sony's The Essential Plácido Domingo succeeds admirably on the first two counts, and well enough on the last to make it a worthy first choice among the many collections on the market. With the exception of Puccini's rarely heard song, "Sole e amore," which sneaks in as one of the most affecting performances on the entire collection, and "Von der Jugend" from Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, which reminds us that Domingo is one of the very few superstar tenors to venture...
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