Juan Diego Florez, Tenor – the opera guide

The online opera guide on Juan Diego Florez

Read the short biography of Juan Diego Florez and listen to highlights of his career. Florez has been one of the best tenors in the world for almost ten years.

The ascent

Juan Diego Flórez was born into a musical family in Lima on January 13, 1973. In 1989 he won a first prize in a TV show with his own pieces. In 1990 he entered the conservatory and began singing classical music. In 1993 he won a scholarship and studied in the USA. 1995/1996 first performances in Europe and debut in the Scala. One of the first appearances in Bologna became a legend, where he was allowed to step in for the indisposed tenor in an unknown opera. He learned the opera in a few days and enthused the audience. In 2002 he met Luciano Pavarotti, who made a deep impression on him. In 2007 he made his debut at the Met as Almaviva in the Barbiere. Like Pavarotti 40 years before, he made a sensation with the aria “Ah! mes amis” from Donizetti’s “La Fille du Régiment,” with his nine high C’s. This happened 2007 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and in 2008 at the Met.

Ah mes amis ! (fille de régiment)  –  Florez

His repertoire

Juan Diego Florez is a Tenore di grazia. His repertoire includes the great tenor roles of Rossini (La Cenerentola, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Zelmira etc.), Donizetti (La fille du régiment) and Bellini (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) as well as French lyric roles.

Since 2013, he has also increasingly played lyrical roles such as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor and Alfredo in La Traviata.

Significance

Florez has been one of the best tenors in the world for almost ten years.  To illustrate this: “A few years ago, his triumphant version of the ah mes amis from the Fille du régiment, at least at the Scala, had the effect of breaking a strict ban on encores that had been in force since Toscanini – in other words, the ban on repeating an aria in the middle of a play due to excessive audience applause. The last time that there had been such an encore at the Scala was in 1933 with Shaljapin, who only dared to do it because Toscanini was out of the country. (SWR, Katharina Eickhoff).

In his field, Juan Diego is the best tenor in the world. Perhaps he is even the best Rossini tenor since  World War II.  Listen to him in the difficult aria “Languir per una bella” by Rossini.

Languir per una bella (Italia in Algeri)  –  Florez

More highlights of Juan Diego Florez’ records

(to be contidued)

From the Barbiere di Siviglia the famous Ecco ridente.

Ecco ridente in cielo 

It is with easiness that he sings the most difficult passages. You can listen to him in «Ah il più lieto il più felice» from the barbiere.

Ah il più lieto il più felice  –  Florez / Pappano

For many, Juan Diego Florez is the great Ernesto of our time. His interpretation brings out Ernesto’s emotional state in a great way. This duet perfectly contrasts the comedy of Old Don Pasquale with the his deep despair.

Sogno soave e casto – Florez / Raimondi

Florez presents us with a vulnerable but not a sentimental Ernesto. The recitative of the first part is interpreted in a great way and shows the despair (“Povero Ernesto”) of the abandoned and deceived. And at the end of the long aria he shows a flawless and effortless high C.

Povero Ernesto … Cerchero lontana terra

We hear another beautiful aria by Donizetti for tenor Ernesto.

Com’e gentil … tutto è languor 

We hear a beautiful recording with the dream couple of the 2000s Juan Diego Florez and Anna Netrebko, again in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale.

Tormami a dir che m’ami  –  Netrebko / Florez 

Juan Diego Florez is the great Rossini tenor of our time. In his fach, Juan Diego is the best tenor in the world. He may even be the best Rossini tenor since the World War II.

Zitto, Zitto  –  Florez / Corbelli

See and hear Juan Diego Flores in a legendary encore on the Met (which is rarely allowed). The aria from Cenerentola is spectacular: it is peppered with difficult runs and high Cs.

Si ritrovarla io giuro 

For many, Juan Diego Florez is the great Ernesto (“Don Pasquale”) of our time. His interpretation brings out Ernesto’s emotional state in a great way. This duet perfectly contrasts the comedy of Old Don Pasquale with the his deep despair.

Sogno soave e casto – Florez / Raimondi

Donizetti presents us with something unusual in this aria. A deeply sad trumpet solo introduces us into the mood of Ernesto. Normally this instrument is not associated with these feelings. Donizetti deliberately provoked this effect to emphasize the complexity of this plot, which is supposed to be more than a mere comedy.

Florez presents us with a vulnerable but not a sentimental Ernesto. The recitative of the first part is interpreted in a great way and shows the despair (“Povero Ernesto”) of the abandoned and deceived. And at the end of the long aria he shows a flawless and effortless high C.

Povero Ernesto … Cerchero lontana terra

As one of the leading roles Lindoro gets a big appearance scene in the form of a “Scena ed aria”. This consists of a slow cavatina (“Languir per una bella”) and a fast caballetta (“Se inclinassi a prender moglie”). With the elegiac cavatina of Lindoro, Rossini presents a thoughtful character.  Lindoro and Isabella are the only characters in the opera who embody both serious and cheerful aspects, thus gaining depth and standing above all other characters in Rossini’s hierarchy. The elegy of Lindoro is introduced with a beautiful French horn melody. This cavatina is a veritable par force ride for the tenor. It is written in a very high tessitura; the tenor sings constantly above the F and often even in the regions of C and D. There are also many intricate ornaments and scales.

We hear Juan Diego Florez, the Rossini tenor of the 21st century. His technique is outstanding and he masters this aria with a perfection that is captivating. He produces his high notes seemingly effortlessly and the ornaments are perfect

Languir per una bella

And hear the cabaletta

Se inclinassi a prender moglie  –  Florez / Doss

Still from from Rossinis “L”italiana in algeri”: His ornaments are magnificent, interestingly enough he studied the Rossini roles with Marylin Horne for a while.

Oh, come un cor di giubilo  –  Florez

Juan Diego Florez’s “Pour mon ame ” has a very nice story of a famous encore. In 2007 he sang the Tonio at La Scala and he was the first to be granted an aria as an encore since 1933. Nota bene this was not allowed to a Tebaldi or Callas, nor to a Domingo or Pavarotti! We hear a live recording with an encore from from that time from the Genoa Opera House.

Pour mon ame – Florez

Peter Lutz, opera-inside, the online opera guide to Juan Diego Florez