Singing the Praises of Domingo

This was one night Placido Domingo didn’t have to sing for his supper. The plaudits were for his work as artistic consultant to the Los Angeles Music Center Opera since its first season in 1986.

On an evening off from performances in Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Spanish tenor was the honored guest Wednesday at an alfresco dinner hosted by major opera supporter Tara Colburn at her Beverly Hills home.

It was an intimate, elegant affair at which Domingo was presented with an engraved silver box from Tiffany’s and praised for giving the 5-year-old company what general director Peter Hemmings called “built-in credibility.”

“Since he’s been artistic consultant, Placido has sung, conducted, recruited singers and helped with fund-raising and publicity,” said Hemmings.

“Just his presence alone has been enough to persuade artists to come and sing with us.”

His presence is also credited with bringing a torrent of female fans to the opera.

In the words of Lenore Greenberg, “His voice is so velvet and so are his eyes.”

This evening was a special opportunity for a select group of opera supporters to dine with Ol’ Velvet Eyes. Six tables were clustered around the black-bottomed swimming pool and a spreading coral tree in Colburn’s richly landscaped, split-level garden where a high row of cypress trees provides privacy. Dozens of candles set along the lawn’s edge punctuated the darkness.

Opera fandom runs beyond a taste for grand doings onstage to lifestyle.

“One of the best things about supporting the opera,” said one guest, “is there are so many galas and receptions and dinners with such wonderful food and wine. You don’t actually have to go to the opera to enjoy it.”

On this occasion, guests enjoyed a dinner that began with a terrine of cucumber filled with Norwegian salmon tartare, then thin slices of roasted duck in a grape sauce, salad and an apple tart with toasted almonds for dessert.

Among those dining were Barbara and Marvin Davis, Dorothy Forman, Michael and Patricia Forman, Lila and Roy Ash, Joan and John Hotchkis, Peggy and Walter Grauman, John and Sally Thornton, Henry and Ginny Mancini, Richard Seaver, Dorothy and Leonard Straus, and Flora Thornton.

Domingo appeared buoyed by the evening and confident of the opera company’s future.

“We are still very young compared to other companies,” he said, “but we have advanced very firmly into a nice position in the opera world.”