WASHINGTON — Artists and politicians came together Sunday night to celebrate the richness of artistic influences on American culture, with an opera legend standing alongside a rock 'n' roll star as honorees at the annual Kennedy Center gala.
The vastly different musical styles of the two singers, Placido Domingo and Chuck Berry, underscored the diversity in American arts, participants said.
"It is amazing, because it is such a young country," Domingo said Saturday night at a dinner at the State Department.
Every year since 1978, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has honored a small group of performing artists for their lifetime contributions to America's culture. This year, Berry and Domingo were joined by actress Angela Lansbury, dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov and actor-director Clint Eastwood.
"Each one has given us something unique and enriched us beyond measure," President Clinton said at a White House reception just before the gala. "Their triumphs have lifted our emotions and left us a better and richer place."
Domingo, 59, is a native of Spain and the artistic director of the Washington Opera and the Los Angeles Opera. He has sung more than 100 roles and made more than 100 opera recordings, making him one of the most prolific tenors in history. In recent years, he has gained popular attention as one of the Three Tenors, along with Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti.
Berry, 74, who was born in St. Louis, spun together the blues, swing, country and other forms of music to create a new sound that swept the nation in the 1950s. With hits like "Johnny B. Goode" and "Sweet Little Sixteen," he is considered an originator of rock 'n' roll. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and many others have said their music was made possible by Berry's groundbreaking work.
Lansbury, 75, has skipped effortlessly back and forth from the stage to motion pictures to television during her more than 50 years as an actress. Born in London, she came to the United States during World War II, and shortly after received an Oscar nomination for her 1944 performance in "Gaslight." In the 1980s, she conquered television with her role as the mystery writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher in "Murder, She Wrote." But she remained faithful to the stage, where her performances have earned her four Tony Awards for best actress.
Baryshnikov, 52, first rose to fame in the late 1960s as a dancer in the Kirov Ballet. In 1974, he defected from the Soviet Union to the United States and joined the American Ballet Theater. Since then, he has thrown himself into project after project, performing in countless ballets, working to meld modern and traditional Russian dance, appearing in films and broadening the appeal of dance to American audiences.
Eastwood, 70, became a film star in westerns of the 1960s. By the time the San Francisco-born actor starred in "Dirty Harry" in 1971, he was a leading box office draw. That same year, he directed his first film, "Play Misty for Me," and he went on to make a successful career of directing. He won an Academy Award for his direction of the 1992 western "Unforgiven," in which he also starred.
At the State Department dinner, Lansbury said that being recognized by the Kennedy Center was "certainly a way station that is one of the most important, most honoring in my life."