Placido Domingo gets standing ovation at first show since sex-harass claims – New York Post

Opera legend Placido Domingo was greeted with a standing ovation in Austria on Sunday, his first gig since nine women accused him of sexual harassment dating back three decades.

The 78-year-old baritone hadn’t hit a single note when the audience at the Salzburg Fesitval got on its feet and gave him a rousing show of support prior to a performance of Verdi’s “Luisa Miller.”

“Wonderful public, good performance all,” the Spanish-born singer said as he signed autographs after the show. “I mean so much love from the public.”

The rousing response comes two weeks after the multiple Grammy-winner was accused of years of sexual harassment that one victim called “an open secret.”

Three of the women claimed Domingo, who has been married since 1962, forced wet kisses on them in a dressing room, hotel room and at a lunch meeting, and another said he stuck his hand down her skirt.

Soprano Patricia Wulf, the only accuser to identify herself, said the opera singer never touched her but constantly pressed her for sex which “absolutely and most certainly … was sexual harassment.”

One accuser claimed the singer left her $10 after they had sex so she didn’t “feel like a prostitute.”

Two opera houses — the Philadelphia Orchestra and the San Francisco Opera — cancelled performances after the allegations surfaced, while others, including New York’s Metropolitan Opera, took a wait-and-see attitude pending an investigation into the allegations.

As of Sunday, Domingo was still booked to star in “Macbeth” at the Met next month.

But the crowd in Salzburg was firmly behind the star, with one fan calling it “a public rehabilitation.”

“It was an outstanding performance,” said Michael Burggasser, a German literature professor in Vienna who was in the audience. “But it was also a public rehabilitation of Mr. Domingo. Because when the people stood up in the beginning and cheered for him — that expresses their support for him.”

Domingo received an additional 10 minutes of standing ovation after the performance as well.

With Post wires

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