Tenor draws applause and criticism at Mayan site: 07-10-2008
Travellers in Mexico were recently able to experience a unique, if slightly controversial, music concert.
Placido Domingo - considered one of the world's greatest tenors - performed at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza.
Despite the concert being a huge success, with Domingo performing in a Mariachi costume and singing in Maya with a local artist, there were questions over whether the event should proceed due to its potential to damage the site.
The tenor thanked the organisers for helping to ensure the site was not damaged but this wasn't enough to appease some local archaeologists.
Archaeologists' union leader Cuauhtemoc Velasco explained his belief that the concert put the ruins at risk, while excluding the ordinary people of Mexico due to the exorbitant ticket prices.
"These monuments are not there so that rich people can hold events at them," he said.
Tickets cost between £30 and £500 despite the average daily wage in Mexico being only around £3 per day.
Domingo performed at the ruins once before at the age of just 16 - but that performance didn't come close to drawing the 6,000-strong crowd that attended the Unesco World Heritage site for this year's event.
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