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Placido Domingo
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Jose Carreras
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THIS
IS A STORY THAT PERHAPS FEW PEOPLE HAVE HEARD. IT IS A TRUE STORY OF A
REMARKABLE ACT HUMAN
KINDNESS AND SHOULD SERVE AS AN EXAMPLE AND INSPIRATION TO ALL OF US.
IT’S
ABOUT TWO OF THREE TENORS – LUCIANO PAVAROTTI, PLACIDO DOMINGO AND JOSÉ
CARRERAS WHO STIRRED THE WORLD THROUGH THEIR SINGING TOGETHER.
EVEN
THOSE WHO’VE NEVER VISITED SPAIN, KNOW OF THE RIVALRY BETWEEN CATALANES
AND MADRILEÑOS, SINCE THE CATALANES ARE FIGHTING FOR THEIR AUTONOMY FROM
A MADRID DOMINATED SPAIN. IT
SO HAPPENS THAT, PLACIDO DOMINGO IS MADRILEÑO AND JOSÉ CARRERAS IS CATALÁN.
FOR
POLITICAL REASONS, IN 1984, CARRERAS AND DOMINGO BECAME ENEMIES. BEING
THAT THEY WERE VERY POPULAR AND MUCH SOUGHT AFTER AROUND THE WORLD, BOTH
STATED IN THEIR CONTRACTS THAT THEY WOULD PERFORM ONLY IF THE OTHER WAS
NOT INVITED.
IN
1987, CARRERAS MET UP WITH AN ENEMY MORE IMPLACABLE THAN HIS RIVAL PLACIDO
DOMINGO. HE WAS TAKEN BY SURPRISE WITH A TERRIBLE DIAGNOSIS: LEUKEMIA!!
HIS
FIGHT AGAINST CANCER WAS A PAINFUL ONE. HE WAS SUBJECTED TO NUMEROUS
TREATMENTS, BESIDES HAVING A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT AND BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS
THAT FORCED HIM TO TRAVEL TO THE UNITED STATES ONCE A MONTH.
UNABLE
TO WORK UNDER THESE CONDITIONS, THOUGH HE POSSESSED A CONSIDERABLE
FORTUNE, THE HIGH COST OF THESE TRIPS AND MEDICAL TREATMENTS DEPLETED HIS
FINANCES. WHEN
AT THE END OF HIS FINANCIAL ABILITY, HE DISCOVERED A FOUNDATION IN MADRID,
THE SOLE PURPOSE OF WHICH WAS THE SUPPORT OF TREATMENT FOR THE SUFFERERS
OF LEUKEMIA. THANKS TO THE SUPPORT FROM THE “HERMOSA” FOUNDATION,
CARRERAS CONQUERED THE DISEASE AND RETURNED TO SINGING.
ONCE
AGAIN HE ATTAINED TO AN ELEVATED AND DESERVED STATUS AND ATTEMPTED TO JOIN
THE FOUNDATION. READING THEIR BY-LAWS, HE DISCOVERED THAT THE FOUNDER,
LEADING CONTRIBUTOR AND PRESIDENT OF THE FOUNDATION, WAS PLACIDO
DOMINGO. HE
LATER FOUND OUT THAT PLACIDO HAD ORIGINALLY FORMED THIS ORGANIZATION TO
HELP HIM WITH HIS TREATMENT, BUT HAD CHOSEN TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS IN ORDER
TO NOT HUMILIATE HIM IN ACCEPTING HELP FROM HIS “ENEMY”.
BUT
THE MOST MOVING PART OF THIS STORY IS THEIR ENCOUNTER…
SURPRISING
PLACIDO AT ONE OF HIS PERFORMANCES IN MADRID, CARRERAS INTERRUPTED THE
EVENT AND HUMBLY, KNELT AT HIS FEET, ASKED HIM FORGIVENESS AND PUBLICLY
THANKED HIM. PLACIDO HELPED HIM UP AND WITH A BIG HUG THEY SEALED THE
BEGINNING OF A GREAT FRIENDSHIP.
IN
AN INTERVIEW WITH PLACIDO DOMINGO, A REPORTER ASKED HIM WHY HE HAD CREATED
THE “HERMOSA FOUNDATION” AT A TIME WHEN, BESIDES BENEFITTING AN
“ENEMY”, HE HAD HELPED, THE ONLY OTHER ARTIST THAT WAS HIS
COMPETITION.
HIS
ANSWER WAS SHORT AND DEFINITE: “WE
CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE A VOICE LIKE THAT…”
NEXT
TIME YOU SEE A SHOOTING STAR, KEEP
IT IN YOUR HEART. IT IS THE SOUL OF SOMEONE THAT REACHED THE GOAL OF
GIVING OTHERS HIS LOVE…
Writer
Unknown
Do
nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility
consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only
to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3 and 4
He who humbles himself shall be
exalted; he who exalts himself shall be humbled. |
Tim
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