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Domingo's concert at Mayan pyramid enthralls crowd

06.10.2008 19:07 Arts - Source: cbc.ca

Tenor Placido Domingo, who was raised in Mexico, performs in concert at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula Saturday night.(Dario Lopez-Mills/Associated Press)

Tenor Placido Domingo's performance at the Mexican Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza on Saturday night went off without a hitch despite howls of protest from archeologists.

Domingo, who was born in Spain but grew up in Mexico, performed a mix of classical pieces and local music, collaborating with Mexican pianist and singer Armando Manzanero.

His Concert of 1,000 Columns drew enthusiastic applause from an audience estimated at 4,000.

Domingo and Manzanero won a standing ovation for a duet on Manzanero's love ballad Adoro, with the Mexican crooner singing in Mayan — a language still spoken by one million people in Mexico.

The Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza in southern Mexico are 1,200 years old, and archeologists decried the use of the site for a concert.(Israel Leal/Associated Press)

"It is marvellous to be here," Domingo said during a break.

Fans went wild during an encore when Domingo, 67, donned a silver-buttoned suit similar to Mexico's cowboy-singers and belted out mariachi classics like El Rey, and when he asked the audience to sing along.

Karen Eddy, originally of Toronto, travelled to the concert from her current home in Mexico City and said she thought it would be "magical" to experience Domingo singing in front of the towering main pyramid of the 1,200-year-old site.

Archeologists and activists have complained that concerts like Domingo's ruin historic sites and degrade their cultural significance.

Cuauhtemoc Velasco, head of the archeologists' union, complained the concert violates a law that requires the ruins be preserved to educate Mexicans about ancient cultures.

"These monuments are not there so that rich people can hold events at them," said Velasco earlier this week, noting the tickets cost between $45 and $900 US in a country with a minimum wage of about $4.50 a day.

But concert organizer Jorge Esma had said non-ticket holders could watch it free on local television and that the Mayan temples would be well-protected.

The government required light stage structures, prohibited anything from being anchored into ancient stones and had experts on hand to evaluate the impact on the temples.

With files from the Associated Press

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