On March 20, Placido Domingo made his role debut as Don Carlo in Verdi's "Ernani." The role was the latest baritone role for the most famous opera singer in the world.

Domingo, who was acclaimed for singing tenor roles throughout his career, decided to take on baritone roles when his voice could no longer handle the tenorial stratosphere. His big debut as a baritone came in 2009, when he sang an acclaimed turn as "Simon Boccanegra." Domingo went on to sing the role all over the world including Berlin, the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala and Teatro Real de Madrid.

Since then, Domingo has added a number of baritone roles, most notably from the composer Giuseppe Verdi. He sang the role of Verdi's "Rigoletto" for a TV recording in Mantua, Italy and later performed the final act of the work in Beijing.

In 2012, he added the role of Francesco Foscari in Verdi's early work "I Due Foscari.'' He performed the work in Los Angeles and later in Spain, and he recently performed the work in London where one of the performances was recorded live in movie theaters. The work was not very well known until Domingo reestablished it into the repertoire.

Domingo's transition into the baritone roles continued in 2013 when the singer celebrated Verdi's bicentennial by adding four Verdi baritone roles to his repertoire. He first sang the role of Giorgio Germont in "La Traviata" alongside German soprano Diana Damrau and later went to London for his first performances in the title role of "Nabucco." His "Nabucco" was also recorded for movie theaters and Sony Classical slated to release the DVD in the next months.

In the summer, Domingo went to Salzburg to perform the role of Giacomo in the composer's "Giovanna d'Arco." The performances were some of the most anticipated at the festival as they also marked Domingo's first performances with Russian soprano Anna Netrebko since 2009. The performances were sold out and was later released on CD through Deutsche Grammophon.

Then in November of that year, the tenor went on to perform the Count di Luna in Verdi's "Il Trovatore." The tenor was well-known for singing the lead role when he sang the opera as a tenor. As Luna he once again reunited with Netrebko in Berlinm and the performances were recorded for DVD. He later went to sing the role with Netrebko at Salzburg where the two performers caused a sensation and were met with sold out crowds.

This year, Domingo is not only adding Don Carlo in "Ernani" to his repertoire, but he also recently sang the title role of "Macbeth" in Berlin. The performances were also met with ecstatic reviews.

It is important to note, though he's voiced all these baritone roles, Domingo had previously performed the tenor roles to all the operas; "I Due Foscari" was the only exception, which he never sang the tenor role for.

Domingo's work as baritone has also led him to record a Verdi album, and he has also delved into other composers as well.

He made a sensational debut as Athanael in Massenet's "Thais" in Valencia, and he also created the role of Neptune in the Metropolitan Opera's Pastiche "The Enchanted Island." He also created the role of celebrated writer Pablo Neruda in Daniel Catan's opera "Il Postino." Both "The Enchanted Island" and "Il Postino" were released on DVD.

Domingo does not look to stop his busy schedule as he will be returning to a number of roles including "Simon Boccanegra" at the Met in 2015-16 and in Germany during the summer. He will also return to "Nabucco" in Vienna where he will perform with the famed soprano Maria Guleghina.

Domingo has not announced any new roles for the upcoming season, but based on his schedule, Domingo will likely add something soon.

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