BBC Music Magazine April 2011 "Domingo stops the show in Carmen, in a performance wonderfully conducted by Carlos Kleiber. The Samson and Hoffmann ... are seriously good." ***** Performance **** Picture & Sound" This third boxed set of Plácido Domingo’s greatest roles features bonus interviews. CARMEN (Bizet) – Vienna State Opera For this legendary staging of Carmen, the masterly director Franco Zeffirelli created colourful and atmospheric imagery, while the musical genius of conductor, Carlos Kleiber, drew from the music a rhythmic vitality and subtle passion. Kleiber was conducting an extraordinary cast. Plácido Domingo, still the young lyrical tenor, gave a stunning performance as Don José, and Elena Obraztsova was a wonderfully natural Carmen, a far cry from the usual she-devil erotic cliché. “The applause threatened to last as long as a full-length opera”, SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG. SAMSON AND DELILAH (Saint-Säens) – San Francisco Opera Saint-Säens’ great dramatic opera closely follows the biblical tale of the struggle between the Hebrews and the Philistines, and the downfall of Samson at the hands of the temptress Delilah. The colourful and evocative sets and costumes reflect Saint-Säens’ melodic and sensual score. “Plácido Domingo and Shirley Verrett…incomparable in the title roles”, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. “...boasting three excellent principals, an extraordinarily handsome scenic and costume design, crisp, effective stage direction, and exceptionally good orchestral playing under an operatic conductor of the first rank”, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER. THE TALES OF HOFFMANN (Offenbach) – The Royal Opera Covent Garden Seeking to exorcise the failure of his current love affair, the poet Hoffmann tells the tales of his three past loves – the doll-like Olympia, the high-class courtesan Giulietta, and the ambitious but delicate Antonia – and recalls how each was thwarted by the evil influence of his rival. In this production by the distinguished film director, John Schlesinger, Offenbach’s nightmare world is brought to life. The all-star cast is headed by Plácido Domingo as Hoffmann: his three loves are Ileana Cotrubas, Agnes Baltsa and Luciana Serra and the manifestations of his rival are sung by Geraint Evans, Robert Lloyd, Siegmund Nimsgern and Nicola Ghiuselev. Bonus DVD Plácido Domingo speaks at length, with passion and fervour, about each of the roles he sings in these three operas.