Tenor Placido Domingo sang Saturday, at the ancient Mayan pyramids of Chichen Itza.

Domingo and Martinez also joined in a thundering, majestic tribute to the Mayan ruins in "The Silver Moon of Chichen Itza." The piece by Lorena Tassinari, is called "a kind of Mayan hymn."

The singers stood, dwarfed by the hulking mass of the site's main pyramid, eerily illuminated in red against a black sky. The concert opened with Mayan-style music -- from by The Monumental Chorus of the Mayab, accompanied by native drums.

The estimated 4,000 fans attending seemed unconcerned about complaints that the concert and others like it exploit or misuse the 1,200-year-old Mayan ruins. The concert's name is a reference to a temple platform at Chichen Itza crowned by rows of columns.

The native dialect is still spoken by almost a million people in the region.The Spanish-born Domingo grew up in Mexico. Enthusiastic fans in the southern state of Yucatan erupted in applause, Saturday at his "Concert of 1,000 Columns." Many viewed the concert as a homecoming. One of Domingo's first performances was in Yucatan in 1957.

(CCTV October 8, 2008)