Stockholm  - Spanish opera singer Placido Domingo was Friday named the first winner of the Birgit Nilsson Prize, worth 1 million dollars.

The prize was created by the late Swedish soprano star Birgit Nilsson who also set up a foundation that will handle the award in future.

Nilsson selected the Spanish tenor herself, making her selection before her death at age 87 in December 2005. Her choice was announced Friday when a sealed envelope was opened.

A prize ceremony for Domingo was due end of this year, the foundation said.

The prize is to be awarded every second or third year "for outstanding achievements in the international field of opera and concert."

Nilsson and Domingo first sang together in New York at the Metropolitan Opera on February 15, 1969 in a matinee production of Tosca by Giacomo Puccini.

Nilsson at the time remarked that "Placido acquitted himself splendidly," praising his singing and acting.

Nilsson (1918-2005) is considered as one of the world's best dramatic sopranos. She was known for her performances in operas by Richard Wagner including The Ring Cycle and Lohengrin, the operas Salome and Elektra by Richard Strauss, Puccini's Tosca as well as Giuseppe Verdi's Aida.

She performed at many leading opera houses and stages including Bayreuth, Vienna, Milan, London, Paris, Munich, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, and Stockholm where she made her debut 1946. (dpa)