Placido Domingo regales Mexico City with free concert

(AFP PHOTO/Samuel Kubani)

Spanish tenor Placido Domingo will give a free, open-air concert in Mexico City next month to celebrate Christmas, city authorities said Monday.

Domingo, 68, will sing December 19 at the iconic Angel of Independence monument on Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, the mayor's office said in a statement.

It will be his first free concert in Mexico, his son Alvaro Domingo told El Universal daily. The world-famous tenor spent part of his childhood and launched his musical career in Mexico. It will be his first visit to the capital in seven years.

Alvaro said his father, who now directs the Washington National Opera and the Los Angeles Opera in the United States, will perform songs from Spanish zarzuela, Christmas songs and traditional Mexican folk tunes.

The concert is part of "Christmas Magic," a 36-day festive event organized by city authorities expected to draw as many as three million visitors to the city.

The celebration features what is billed as the tallest Christmas tree in history: together with its platform the tree will stand 112 meters (yards) tall in a central city square.