Placido slags off Bayreuth and Salzburg directors

In common with a large chunk of their audiences, Placido Domingo didn't care much for Sebastian Baumgarten's Biogas Tannhäuser at Bayreuth or Christof Loy's recording-studio Die Frau ohne Schatten in Salzburg.  "I have a problem with it," says Domingo, "It's incomprehensible to me. As the director of an opera house I would never allow anything like that. In Germany and Austria, controversial productions have unfortunately become the norm."

But unlike most, Placido is in a position to do something about it.

"When I haven't agreed with a staging, I've had a word with the director. When that hasn't helped, I've had the production shut down."

The world's hardest-working baritenor isn't afraid to accept a gig in Salzburg though. He's confirmed his involvement in a forthcoming co-production between the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival, engineered by incoming artistic director and fellow conservative Alexander Pereira.