Cristina Lourdes Gallardo-Domâs Tudezca is a soprano, born in Santiago, Chile, who frequently performs in operas by Puccini.
Gallardo-Domâs made her debut as Madama Butterfly in 1990 at the Municipal Theatre of Santiago and, three years later, began performing in opera houses in Europe, making her La Scala debut in 1993 in La Rondine.
Gallardo-Domâs' many Puccini performances include: Turandot and Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Royal Opera House; La bohème at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and Paris Opéra; Manon Lescaut at the Zurich Opera and Los Angeles Opera; Simon Boccanegra (by Verdi) at Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia; and Suor Angelica at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and Teatro Colón.
Gallardo-Domâs is known for her Madama Butterfly and was featured in the heavily promoted new production of this work that opened the 2006/2007 season at the Metropolitan Opera and marked the beginning of Peter Gelb's tenure as General Manager of the Met. According to her website http://www.gallardo-domas.com, she was personally chosen by the director, Anthony Minghella, for this role, having successfully performed it previously at the Royal Opera.
In 2010 Gallardo-Domâs created the role of Matilde Neruda in the Los Angeles world premiere of Daniel Catán's Il Postino.
Gallardo-Domâs received a degree with honors in music from the in Santiago with Prof. Ahlke Scheffelt and also studied at the Juilliard School in New York. She has been recognized with top cultural honors in Chile: the Gabriela Mistral Award and the Gran Cruz Apostol Santiago. She has also won top prizes in singing competitions.
Gallardo-Domâs lives in the Canary Islands, Spain, with her husband, a Spanish lawyer, and her two children.