CHICHEN ITZA, Mexico (AFP) — Spanish tenor Placido Domingo sang in the Maya language and in Mariachi costume at a concert in the pre-Hispanic pyramids of Chichen Itza, southeastern Mexico, late Saturday.
The tenor, who once before performed at the famous Mayan site in 1967 aged 16, sang a popular Mariachi song dressed in traditional costume as well as a duet in Maya with a local singer, rousing some 6,000 spectators to their feet.
Domingo earlier praised the organizers for ensuring that spectators would avoid damaging the more than 1,500-year-old pre-Hispanic city, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for 20 years.
The concert was almost canceled due to a complaint from the Archaeology Council of the Institute of Anthropology and History, which considered it a "danger ... for the conservation of pre-Hispanic ruins."
The 67-year-old tenor sang a wide-ranging program, including songs in Italian, French and German.
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