Placido Domingo will try to see if it's more effective to run one opera company, instead of two

In a conference call yesterday morning, Placido Domingo told the board of Washington National Opera that he will not stay on as general director when his contract in the U.S. capital expires next June. He has been in the D.C. post since 2003, having started as artistic director in 1996.

He made the call from his office at Los Angeles Opera, where he is also general director (with a recent contract extension to 2013) and happens to be singing in one of its current productions, and conducting the other.

And that doesn't even touch on all the other engagements he has this year, in various parts of the world.

For more details about the Washington move, check out the Washington Post.