Placido Domingo sings at Mexico pyramid

[October 06, 2008]  CHICHEN ITZA, Mexico (AP) -- Tenor Placido Domingo's choice of a program peppered with local music and help from Mexican pianist and crooner Armando Manzanero may smooth the controversy surrounding his Saturday concert at the Mayan pyramids of Chichen Itza.

The Spanish-born Domingo grew up in Mexico, and for enthusiastic fans in the southern state of Yucatan, the "Concert of 1,000 Columns" is like a homecoming:

One of his first performances was in Yucatan in 1957.

The estimated 4,000 fans attending seemed unconcerned about complaints that the concert and others like it exploit or misuse the 1,200-year-old Mayan ruins. The concert's name is a reference to a temple platform at Chichen Itza crowned by rows of columns.

"It is an honor for us to have a concert like this," said Armando de Leon from the nearby city of Merida.

Herman Segovia came all the way from San Antonio, Texas, to hear Domingo, whom he called "an artist of high quality."

"I don't think the site will be damaged. This is a controlled event," Segovia said.

Karen Eddy, originally of Toronto, Canada, traveled to the concert from her current home in Mexico City because "I though it would be magical, just magical" to see Domingo sing in front of the towering main pyramid.

Archaeologists and activists have complained that concerts like Saturday's expose ruin sites to additional damage and degrade their cultural significance by treating them as mere backdrops.

Mexico's federal government turns down most requests to hold concerts at ancient temples. But it faces increasing pressure from state governors to promote ruins which, critics argue, are already swamped with tourists.

Officials did impose limits on stage and seating structures and the number of spectators for Domingo's concert, ensuring that it would be smaller than tenor Luciano Pavarotti's 1997 appearance at Chichen Itza, which drew 18,000. Since then, more than a half dozen concerts have been held at or near the ruins.

Domingo planned to pepper the program with Zarzuela from his native Spain as well as music from Mexico. He even hinted he would sing in Mayan, the ancient language still spoken by about 1 million people in Yucatan and neighboring states.

The program also includes the melancholy, melodic "Lamento di Federico" from Francesco Cilea's "L'Arlesiana," and the soaring "Gia nella notte densa" from Verdi's Otello.

Manzanero -- along with a Yucatan orchestra and choral group -- will accompany Domingo on several numbers. Manzanero, a Yucatan native, is best known for his interpretation of ballads such as "Contigo Aprendi" and "Nada Personal."

[Associated Press; By MARK STEVENSON]

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