“He has everything Almaviva needs. The voice is on the light side, but it carries easily through a house as big as the Met. Agility is no problem for him, and he uses it with taste as well as confidence.” (Leighton Kerner in Opera News, April 2002 on FlĂłrez’s Met debut in The Barber of Seville…)
The Place of Birth
Juan Diego Florez is an outstanding opera singer who is known as a Peruvian operatic tenor. He was born in 1973, on January, 13. His motherland is considered to be Lima, Peru.
Family Background
The tenor’s family background played a significant role in his future career. It should be mentioned that his father Rubin Florez was a well-known singer of Criolla music and guitarist. Lima, the place of the singer’s birth, recognized and respected Ruben Florez as a talented musician. His mother was the manager of a pub providing live music for the visitors; it gave an opportunity for the young Juan Diego to get an early experience as a singer.
Music Education
Juan Diego studied music in his native city Lima and graduated from the Curtis Institute situated in Philadelphia. During his education, Juan Diego started to sing in opera productions which helped him to develop his future career. The singer also managed to study at the Music Academy of the West which is situated in Santa Barbara.
Favorite Opera Roles
Pesaro, Italy became the place of the singer’s debut as a professional tenor. One of his favorite roles was the one of Count Potoski in Donizetti’s premiere Elisabetta which is known in the whole world. This role was performed in 1977 and brought recognition and general respect to the singer. (Juan Diego Florez, official website)
Opera Houses where the Roles were performed
- La Scala, Milan
- Staatsoper, Vienna
- Met, New York
- The Opera National, Paris
- Covent Garden, London
Discography
“Arias for Rubini”
Juan Diego Florez, Roberto Abbado, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
“Bel Canto Spectacular”
Juan Diego Florez, Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana – Daniel Oren.
The Singer’s Life Experience
Juan Diego Florez had a nice experience giving a concert in Japan He used to sing Rossini arias and enjoyed the Japanese public. He established a good rapport with the audience during the concert but he wanted to communicate with people and express his thoughts. When he made a sign of his gratitude to people for their attention, they stopped clapping at once. He did not know what to say. After the next song, he made a step forward and they again stopped applauding. It was very funny for the singer. He considered that the audience in Japan is really grateful and derives an utmost pleasure from the opera music. (Nockin, 2006)
Juan Diego always tried to make experiments in his life beginning from the early stages of his career. For example, in 1996 he was asked to substitute the leading tenor who was to play the main role at Rossini Festival but fell ill. Juan Diego was young and inexperienced but he agreed at once without realizing the difficulty of his decision. He was a naive singer who was ready to do everything for his career development. Though that case brought a lot of troubles and difficulties to the singer, he managed to learn a lot and develop the necessary skills important for the tenor singer. (Nockin, 2006)
References
Leighton Kerner in Opera News, 2002 on Flórez’s Met debut in The Barber of Seville. Web.
Juan Diego Florez. Web.
Nockin, Maria. Japan Opera Information. 2006. Web.
Marion Lignana Rosenberg. He can sing an Aria or Frank a Letter. New York Times, 2008.