Opera singer Patricia Wulf says legendary Placido Domingo would get close to her face and and ask, “Do you have to go home tonight?” Read more:
FILE - In this Saturday, Jan. 27, 2001, file photo, Placido Domingo directs the Washington Opera Orchestra and Chorus during a rehearsal of Verdi's Requiem at Washington's Constitution Hall. Nine women in the opera world have told The Associated Press that they were sexually harassed by Domingo in encounters that took place over three decades, at venues that included the Washington Opera, the Los Angeles Opera and other opera companies.
But his accusers and others in the industry say there is a troubling side to Domingo — one they say has long been an open secret in the opera world. In addition to the nine accusers, a half-dozen other women told the AP that suggestive overtures by Domingo made them uncomfortable, including one singer who said he repeatedly asked her out on dates after hiring her to sing a series of concerts with him in the 1990s.
“However, I recognize that the rules and standards by which we are — and should be — measured against today are very different than they were in the past. I am blessed and privileged to have had a more than 50-year career in opera and will hold myself to the highest standards.” None of the women could offer documentation, such as phone messages, but the AP spoke to many colleagues and friends who they confided in. In addition, the AP independently verified that the women worked where they said they did and that Domingo overlapped with them at those locations.Two of the women said they briefly gave in to Domingo’s advances, feeling they couldn’t risk jeopardizing their careers by saying no to the most powerful man in their profession.
Domingo’s influence in the opera world is so great that Wulf was the only person among the dozens who talked to the AP who spoke on the record. And many of those who spoke did so reluctantly, fearing retribution but also not wanting to inflict collateral damage on the industry itself. During a rehearsal of “Tales of Hoffman,” she was selected to kiss Domingo in an orgy scene. She said she remembers wiping his saliva off her face from a sloppy, wet kiss after which he whispered in her ear, “I wish we weren’t on stage.”
Over the course of the next three years, she said, he was uncomfortably affectionate, slipping a hand around her waist when they crossed backstage or giving her a kiss on the cheek a bit too close to the mouth. He knew the key codes for the dressing rooms and would enter uninvited, she said, which she said she assumed was to catch her undressed.
She said she didn’t report his behavior because “that just wasn’t done” and also feared any misstep could kill her career. In 1991, she said, “I finally gave in and slept with him. I ran out of excuses. It was like, ‘OK, I guess this is what I have to do.’” She cut off physical contact after the second encounter, a move she is convinced derailed her career at LA Opera.
During one of his frequent uninvited visits to her dressing room, he admired her costume, leaning forward to kiss her cheeks and placing one hand on the side of her breast, she said. After one performance, the singer said she went home and answered the phone, her heart sinking when she heard Domingo’s voice.
Domingo continued to pursue her in the days and weeks after, she said, calling her repeatedly. “I felt like prey. I felt like I was being hunted by him,” she said.“I was not prepared for how much it would mess with my confidence, and my feeling shame about it and wondering who knew and if they thought that’s why I got an opportunity or a role,” she said. “I started to doubt my own talent and skills.
The singer said that once Domingo took over control of casting decisions at the LA Opera, he never hired her again. At first, she said, she nervously laughed off Domingo’s remarks, even though she considered them offensive. But when he persisted, she made her position clear.It was 1998 and Wulf’s career was taking off at the Washington Opera, where Domingo served as artistic director from 1996-2003 and general director from 2003-2011.
“But,” she added, “you also think as soon as you walk away and get away, you think, ‘Did I just ruin my career?’ And that went on through that entire production.”“It got to a point that I would come off stage and try to slither behind a pillar, and he would still find a way to get to me,” she said. Lew told the AP that he would ask his wife after each performance, “Did it happen again? Did he say the same thing?” He added that “at a certain point, we didn’t have to ask. You could just tell by how upset she was.”
Wulf said she is speaking out because the silence about what she called the “well-known secret” of Domingo’s behavior has stretched on too long. “I’m stepping forward because I hope that it can help other women come forward, or be strong enough to say no,” she said.Another singer who worked in Los Angeles in the mid-2000s told the AP that she already knew of Domingo’s reputation when he took an extreme interest in her career. She made sure she always had an excuse for leaving right after work.
Several weeks later, she said, Domingo approached her on a night that he knew she was scheduled to stay late. Since then, she has sung at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera and elsewhere, but has never again been hired to sing at the Los Angeles house or with Domingo. She said she would wonder to her husband: ”‘Does he understand the risk he’s putting me in, that he could wreck my marriage, wreck my career? Does he understand what he’s doing here?’ But he didn’t care.”
A former opera administrator said he was aware for years that Domingo was “constantly chasing” the dancer. And a conductor who is friends with the dancer said he recalled after she “said no to Domingo, she had the rug pulled out for several years.” She remembered walking into the hotel lobby and telling a clerk that she was meeting Placido Domingo. She was led up to the roof, where a private table was set up and Domingo emerged dressed in an elaborate costume-like robe and a billowy white shirt, with a beautiful, young brunette on his arm.
She remembers feeling elated when he praised her singing, taking her face in his hands after one performance and telling her, “You have moved me. Your performance moved me.” He was artistic director at both the Washington and LA operas and told her, “I’m going to find work for you. . I do many concerts. And I ask my favorite singers to join me.”
Indonesia Berita Terbaru, Indonesia Berita utama
Similar News:Anda juga dapat membaca berita serupa dengan ini yang kami kumpulkan dari sumber berita lain.
AP: Women accuse opera legend Domingo of sexual harassmentFor decades, Placido Domingo, one of the most celebrated and powerful men in opera, has tried to pressure women into sexual relationships by dangling jobs and then sometimes punishing the women...
Baca lebih lajut »
Opera Singer Placido Domingo Accused Of Sexually Harassing Nine Women; Denies ClaimsOpera singer Placido Domingo has been accused of sexually harassing nine women over thirty years, claims that he denies. The report, which was broken by the Associated Press, alleges that eight sin…
Baca lebih lajut »
Opera Superstar Placido Domingo Accused of Sexual Harassment by Nine WomenPlacido Domingo, widely regarded as one of the greatest opera singers of all time, has been accused of sexual harassment by nine women. The women — eight singers and a dancer — claim that over deca…
Baca lebih lajut »
Women: Opera's Domingo abused power to sexually harass themFor decades, Placido Domingo, one of the most celebrated and powerful men in opera, has tried to pressure women into sexual relationships by dangling jobs and then sometimes punishing the women...
Baca lebih lajut »
Women: Opera's Domingo abused power to sexually harass themFor decades, Placido Domingo, one of the most celebrated and powerful men in opera, has tried to pressure women into sexual relationships by dangling jobs and then sometimes punishing the women professionally when they refused his advances, numerous accusers told The Associated Press. Regarded as one
Baca lebih lajut »
Women: Opera's Domingo sexually harassed them, hurt careersFor decades, Placido Domingo, one of the most celebrated and powerful men in opera, has tried to pressure women into sexual relationships by dangling jobs and then sometimes punishing the women...
Baca lebih lajut »