El Museo del Barrio's spring gala had a slightly different tenor this year, and his name was Plácido Domingo. The Spanish superstar singer flew in from the West Coast, where he's in dress rehearsals for the Los Angeles Opera's production of Wagner's Die Walküre, to be honored by the Upper East Side museum.
"Silence is the most precious thing," Domingo mused amid a noisy swirl of fans and photographers inside Cipriani 42nd Street. There wasn't much of it for him this night, of course, between all the obligatory chitchat and the acceptance speech he made later. The evening's golden-voiced headliner (along with his co-honoree, artist Tony Bechara) helped the museum raise more than a million dollars. Supporters shelled out for Judith Ripka jewelry and luxury vacations in Acapulco and Puerto Rico, with the room pausing noticeably to appreciate the elder-statesmen moment that occurred when Oscar de la Renta introduced Domingo at the dais.
"It's nice to be among my people, no question about it," de la Renta told us down at ground level. He couldn't be tempted to stay for dessert, though. No matter: Don Oscar's handlers tapped Christian Cota to fill his seat before the legendary designer's half-eaten scallops had even been cleared. Joked Cota: "I was tempted to take a bite, for inspiration."
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