Plácido Domingo (born January 21, 1941) is a famous Spanish opera singer. Though he started off his career as a baritone in zarzuelas, he quickly retrained as a tenor and became well-known for a voice that was versatile, strong and possessed of a ringing and clear tone throughout its range; his repertoire includes roles in French (Faust, Werther), German (Lohengrin, Parsifal) Italian (Il Trovatore, Don Carlo, Otello), and Russian (Pique Dame). In recent years, Domingo has also turned his hand to conducting opera. He also has been appointed artistic director of two opera companies, first the Washington Opera and later the Los Angeles Opera.