VATICAN CITY – Famed operatic tenor Placido Domingo has recorded an album of songs inspired by the poems of the late Pope John Paul II.
The album, titled “Amore Infinito” (“Infinite Love”), features 12 songs that highlight such themes as gratitude, freedom, the soul, the conscience and a mother’s love. Some of the recordings are duets, including one song, “Love,” performed with the tenor’s son, Placido Domingo Jr.
Produced by the German label Deutsche Grammophon, the album was set for release in Italy Nov. 28. The same day, Mr. Domingo was to appear at a Vatican press conference to launch the new disc.
Pope John Paul wrote poems under a pseudonym during his years in Poland; as pope, he published a volume of spiritual verses in 2003. His poetic works are spiritual in tone and treat a wide variety of subjects and experiences, including literature, theater, factory work and young love.
In addition to Mr. Domingo’s son, four other artists each perform on one track of the new album: Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, U.S. Gospel singer Vanessa Williams, Welsh opera star Katherine Jenkins and U.S. symphonic pop singer Josh Groban.
Mr. Domingo performed before Pope John Paul II at a Mass in 1995, and last April he sang at a Mass in Washington celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI. In 2003, he sang a prayer for peace that Pope John Paul had written the year before for an interreligious service in Assisi, Italy.