Placido Domingo back in L.A., says he has recovered from embolism

Plácido Domingo appeared hale and hearty Monday afternoon when he greeted a throng of local reporters at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for a press event held by Los Angeles Opera.

Domingo, who is conducting the company’s season-opening production of “Carmen,” suffered a health scare earlier this summer in Spain but told Culture Monster that he was fully recovered and feeling fit. The 72-year-old tenor experienced a pulmonary embolism in July and was ordered to rest for nearly a month, forcing him to cancel his appearances in “Il Postino” in Madrid.

“I was lucky,” Domingo said in a brief interview at the Chandler. Domingo, who is the general director of L.A. Opera, said he rested for three weeks in Spain and has since resumed his schedule, which tends to be jam-packed.

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It is shaping up to be a typically active week for the indefatigable Domingo. “Carmen” is scheduled to open on Saturday at the Chandler. (He will conduct most performances of the production, but won’t sing in it.) On Tuesday morning, Domingo was named a recipient of Japan’s Praemium Imperiale Awards, one of the highest cultural honors in the world.

Resting during a break in “Carmen” rehearsals, with his wife, Marta, bustling in the background in his dressing room, Domingo said he was eager for L.A. Opera to ramp up the number of productions it offers each season. While the company is staging eight productions for 2013-14, he said he wants to see nine, 10 and perhaps more as the company continues to recover from the global financial crisis.

He also said that he wanted to make opera more accessible to the Latino community in L.A.

Later this season, Domingo will appear in L.A. Opera’s production of “Thais.”

“Carmen” is scheduled to run through Oct. 6.

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