Placido Domingo concert opening sports complex in Hungary

SZEGED, Hungary  – Placido Domingo received a warm reception Wednesday at a concert in Hungary to inaugurate a new soccer stadium for a Catholic diocese, the second of the opera star’s European engagements since he was accused of sexual harassment in an Associated Press report.

Opera star Placido Domingo listens to applause at the end of a concert in Szeged, Hungary, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019. Domingo continued his calendar of European engagements unabated despite allegations of sexual harassment, appearing Wednesday at a concert in southern Hungary to inaugurate a sports complex for a local Catholic diocese.(AP Photo/Laszlo Balogh)

Domingo, who shared the stage with his son, Placido Domingo Jr., and Puerto Rican soprano Ana Maria Martinez, faced allegations of sexual harassment from nine women in the report that was published Aug. 13.

The audience in the Saint Gerard Forum, as the stadium is called, applauded respectfully when Domingo appeared on stage during a ceremony before a concert.

But the welcome seemed more measured than the standing ovation awarded to him Sunday by the opera crowd at the Salzburg Festival, his first performance since the publication of the allegations.

While two U.S. opera houses canceled appearances as a result of the allegations, Domingo’s European engagements have continued as scheduled.

Still, his interaction with journalists was limited. A news conference planned for Monday in Szeged was called off, and access to a rehearsal was restricted.

Bishop Laszlo Rigo-Kiss referred to Domingo as “the master” when thanking him for his performance. The singer did not speak during the ceremony.

Concert organizer Andreas Magony drew a link between the allegations against Domingo and the large number of lawyers in the United States.

“What needs to be known is that the cultures of the United States and Europe are totally different,” Magony told the AP. “The United States is the home of the show. In reality, everything is about lawyers. There everything can be made into a show.”

He praised Domingo’s “fantastic stage achievements,” his love of family and his “unbroken popularity.”

“The honest and pure human communication with which he lives his life can only fill us with pride. And I believe the audience thinks the same,” Magony said. “We can have only honor and love toward Placido Domingo, who is a colossal artist and a colossal man.”

The AP story included extensive allegations that spanned decades, starting in the 1980s. The women accused Domingo of using his power at the LA Opera, where he has been the longtime general director, and elsewhere to try to pressure them into sexual relationships.

Several of the woman said he dangled jobs and then sometimes punished them professionally if they refused his advances. Allegations included repeated phone calls, invitations to hotel rooms and his apartment, and unwanted touching and kissing.

In a statement to the AP, Domingo called the allegations “deeply troubling and as presented inaccurate.” He said he believed his interactions with the women to be consensual. He has not spoken publicly about the report.

The #MeToo movement has had limited effect in Hungary, where leading politicians have drawn criticism for statements seen as demeaning to women. In a 2015 speech, Parliamentary Speaker Laszlo Kover said that daughters should consider bearing grandchildren as “the height of self-fulfillment.” /gsg