Focus: Domingo
>> 39 after the hour. we want to take time for arts news right now. opera superstar placido domingo debuts friday night in a new production of cyarono de berg iac.
>> placido domingo has sung 122 roles so far in operas written by mozart to vagner. the latest is the rarely performed cyrano debergyac.
>> i have never been an artist satisfied do repertoire, i have always been surging. it is many years i want to do cyarano and finally it comes when i approach the end of my career.
>> domingo debuted at the metropolitan opera in 1968 and has opened 18 seasons there, singing over 600 performances at the met. his signature role is othello. he received over 100 curtain calls, putting him in the guinness book of records. the director says domingo is a trooper despite his fame.
>> he is one of the first people at rehearsal in the morning and often the last to leave. he’s a dedicated, hard worker, part of the reason he is a superstar.
>> domingo is known for his generosity to colleagues and support of younger singers.
>> i saw him on tv when i was 11 years old and he was singing tosca and i pointed to the tv and i said to my mom, i want do that. yeah, honey, ok. then this is the big, first big role i’ve done with placido and i tell you, i cried the first day of rehearsal.
>> to pave the way for future stars, in 1993, domingo started operalia, a competition where singers not only win mon tarry prizes, but a chance for exposure and an opportunity to land jobs. when he’s not on stage singing or rehearsing, do domingo is conducting operas and running two opera houses in washington and los angeles.
>> next year, i am at the met, back with cyrano, sampson and deliela and opening night of the 50th anniversary of the washington opera and three acts at three different operas and in washington and in los angeles have been doing the season also.
>> you think you’re winding down?
>> a little bit perhaps.
>> the 64-year-old tenor is in the twilight of his career but is still pushing forward. he recently finished recording vagner’s piece and in the summer takes on another new part, the title role in pucini’s early opera, edgar, making it 123 roles and counting.
>> the other performances of cyrano this month are may 17 and may 20. speaking of art news, christie’s contemporary auction eased concern the contempterary art market reached a peak and was on the way down. a total of $134 million of art was sold, including hopper’s share car and only a handful of works failed to sell. dealers bid and bought heavily. contemporary art auctions are challenging the spremacy of the impressionist and modern art sales. last night’s sale at christie’s outpaced sotheby’s modern sale held last week. there was a legal victory for christie’s international. a court of appeals overturned a lower court ruling saying the auction house did not mislead taylor thompson about the origins of two antique earns. christie’s claimed they were from the era of lowy the 14th. at stake in the case is what measures auction houses must take to verify the authenticity of the items they sell. it is 44 after the hour, let’s take a break on this day when stocks did decline across the board. you had energy shares as the biggest drag on the s&p after oil prices declined to a three-month low.
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declines, 1.1% for the dow, 1% for the s&p. keep in mind, what happened here, you had energy shares falling on a decline in oil prices. that was the biggest drag on the standard & poor’s 500. moving along to look at what happened in treasuries today -- with concerns over the economy and the pace of interest rate increases sending the nasdaq lower, robert gray has details.
>> the nasdaq composite index closing near the lows of the session, concerns over the economy and its growth and the pace the fed will continue to raise interest rates weighing on stocks, sending them lower in the session. crude oil fell 4% today. closing below the 200-day moving average for the first time since january 3. traders say it fell on lower demand, casting doubt over the strength of the economy going forward, as did wal-mart’s disappointing earnings, overshadowing the retail sales. bruce a little bits at r.b. beard saying stocks are locked in a trading range until the inflation picture is cleared up and michael gurkha with man financial saying earnings growth may not be as strong in the third quarter, selling stocks, putting pressure on the market today. transports led declines in the session, followed by banks and insurance stocks moving lower on concerns about the strengthening economy and interest rate concerns. the philadelphia semiconductor index moving higher, stocks paced by gains in marvell technology, intel and teradyne. marvell with positive comments from wachovia, reiterating an outperform. intel, j.p. morgan analyst saying their profit this quarter may beat his forecast and teradyne upgraded to a buy at morris and cabot. in digital music, stocks falling for a second day after yahoo announced it was entering the digital music subscription business. apple shares falling for the fourth consecutive day, down nearly 10% in those four days. napster fell 27% yesterday and plunged again today. realnetworks falling for a second day after yahoo saying their subscription service will be significantly cheaper than their rivals and yahoo finishing lower after being higher earlier on. google shares rose to an intraday record but closed lower, as well.
>> david stockman resigned as chairman and chief executive of collins and aikman, maker of automotive interiors. the company now asking creditors, customers and suppliers for help to avoid running out of money. charles becker, former director, will be acting chief executive while a search begins for a replacement for stockman. stockman held two terms in the house of representatives before president ronald reagan appointed him director of the office of management of budget in 1981. he was a principal economic adviser at the start of reagan’s presidency. today, the company’s bond prices plunged and the new york stock exchange suspended trading of% -its shares and plans to delist them. moving along to tell you of a story out of washington. the securities and exchange commission chairman william donaldson says pressure on hedge fund managers to deliver market -beating returns may lead to disaster. he suggests growth of the industry could require more oversight by the s.e.c. peter cook is live in our washington puree with more on the chairman’s comments.
>> speaking to a group of financial officers of some of the country’s biggest charitable foundations, donaldson defended the plan to require hedge funds to register with the s.e.c. by 2006. donaldson said he’s worried about the problems with hedge funds in the meantime.
>> if history is a guide, it is just this sort of pressure that can lead otherwise well intentioned professionals to pursue practices that can ultimately result in disaster for investors.
>> donaldson said the s.e.c.’s mandatory registration of hedge funds is a first step and additional regulatory changes might be needed in the future. i asked donaldson if he fears a hedge fund could collapse today the same way long-term capital management did in the 1990’s.
>> i can’t really comment on that because we don’t have the data. we haven’t been inside these funds. as i said here, i believe the federal reserve’s attempt to get at the leveraged side through the banking system is a very good thing that’s being done and i have high hopes that will work.
>> hedge fund manager phillip goldstien who is suing to block the s.e.c. registration rule says there’s no evidence anything is amiss with hedge funds -- he says unfounded rumors about problems in the hedge fund industry should not be the basis for s.e.c. action. and a requirement that companies expense employee stock options, chairman donaldson says a market value proposal cisco proposeing is interesting.
>> thanks so much. new york stock exchange chief executive officer john thain said the big board may increase its cash payment to members as part of its merger with archipelago. under terms of the merger announced back on april 20, each of the nyse members is slated to receive $300,000 in cash and many of the seat holders, many of them are in the 70’s, and want to realize the benefits of the transaction sooner so the latest development is that john thain saying the big board may increase the cash component of the offer. we are going to take a break. when we return, reigning operatic superstar, placido domingo, making his debut in a new performance mounted by the new york’s metropolitan opera.
