This man was born in 1941 so by my reckoning he is 67 today. I have to tell you now, he is a phenomenon. At an age when most tenors are resting their tonsils and writing their memoirs he is still out there. Last year I saw him as Siegmund in Die Walkure and he ran on stage like a young man and the voice, burnished and gold, filled the opera house and made every collective hair stand on end. Yesterday I listened to a prog on Classic FM, Heroes, and Paul Gambaccini chose Placido. Among the gems that were aired was the great duet from Othello with Placido and Sherill Milnes, recorded in the 1970s. Again, hairs on back of necks UK wide were affected. He ended up playing In dem Fernam Land from Lohengrin. Floored me totally. The combination of Placido and Wagner is, for me, irresistible. It sits well for his voice. I hope he can go on singing for some time to come and I understand that he is now looking at a foray into baritone roles, which he was originally, hence the solid base of his voice, and that is something I would love to hear. I do hope he appears at Covent Garden again before long. I will take out a personal loan to be there, I can tell you now.
So on this auspicious day, I wish the Greatest Tenor in the World, and he is no question, a very Happy Birthday.
