Placido reacts with genuine enthusiasm after my audition for Washington National Opera
Thankfully not all the hours on television are given over to talent shows, reality programmes, soaps... (fill in the list with your own grumbles) - sometimes tiny shards of quality make it to the screen and tonight is one of those occasions. Alan Yentob, not a man unfamiliar with the world of opera during his time making the Imagine programmes, has been at it again picking the brains of Placido Domingo. No preview tapes were available at the time of writing as I'm not a journalist or BBC insider but at a rough guess I'll say the programme is centred on PD's recent debut as a baritone in Simon Boccanegra.
For viewers in Wales please note that the programme begins thirty minutes later while folks in Scotland and Northern Ireland you'll have to wait an hour.
While I'm not giving Charlie Brooker a run for his money I thought I'd point out a few other operatic small screen appearances over the holiday season. The recent ROH production of Tchaikovsky's The Tsarina's Slippers will be shown on BBC 2 on Christmas Eve at 2.15pm. Securing the afternoon slot on Christmas Day itself is the recent Netrebko / Villazon film version of La Boheme on BBC2 at 4.10pm. The last sighting of anything minus an X-Factor contestant is Bryn Terfel's recent Bad Boys concert at St David's Hall, showing on S4C at 8.25pm on the 30th of December under the title of Bryn Terfel: Cyngerdd y Bechgyn Drwg.
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