Party scene: Plácido Domingo Awards Dinner

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Plácido Domingo said he has been singing opera for exactly 50 years, beginning with his first role in 1959 as Borsa in ‘Rigoletto’ at the National Opera in Mexico City.

“You can imagine how many singers I have heard,� Domingo said, before singing the praises of Juan Diego Flórez, one of the honorees at Sunday’s 12th annual Plácido Domingo Awards Dinner.

Flórez is the celebrated Peruvian tenor who sings Count Almaviva in most performances of L.A. Opera’s current production of “The Barber of Seville.� He received the award, along with L.A. Opera’s chairman and CEO Marc Stern, at the gala dinner, which was staged by Hispanics for L.A. Opera after the matinee at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Look for the full story in “Scene & Heard� here and in Sunday’s Image section.

-- Ellen Olivier