Juan Diego Flórez

Biography

Juan Diego Flórez is one of the most recognized tenors today. Throughout the world, he enchants ears with his astonishing and captivating range.

The perfect Rossini tenor has a voice that is rarely encountered. Thanks to his astonishing high notes and impeccable vocalizations, all the opera houses in the world are fighting over this exceptional voice phenomenon.

The son of Rubén Flórez, a popular Peruvian singer, he was immersed in music at a very early age. At 17, he joined the National Conservatory of Music, hoping to follow in his father's footsteps. With his teacher Andrés Santa María, director of the Peruvian national choir, he discovered the Italian repertoire and began as a soloist.

In 1993, he won the Philadelphian Curtis Institute scholarship. He worked with Marilyn Home, then a professor at the prestigious Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. In 1994, Flórez was noticed by the Peruvian tenor Ernesto Palacio, who became his teacher, mentor and manager.
Flórez made his real debut in 1996, at the Pesaro Festival. There he replaced Bruce Ford in the role of Corradino in Rossini's Matilde di Shabran. His performance was a real success that opened the doors to La Scala in Milan.
A year later, he played at the Royal House Opera in London, in a modern version of Donizetti's Elizabetta. The reviews were laudatory.
He sang in the greatest theatres: the Vienna Staatsoper and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He also took part in numerous recitals. His interpretation of Otello, at the Royal Opera in Covent Garden in January 2000, left specialists speechless. When Rodrigo's aria ended, the audience exploded with joy, a very rare occurrence in London.

Flórez received numerous awards: best opera singer in 2000, Rossini d'Oro or best tenor of the Opera 2001 for his performance at La Scala in Somnabula.
His recording of Rossini's arias was acclaimed and awarded the Cannes Classical Award 2003. The same for his second CD - Una furtiva lagrima - the following year.
His technique takes your breath away. His favorite repertoire - The Barber of Seville, L'Italiana in Algeri, Rossini's Cenerentola or Bellini's Sonnambula without forgetting Maria Stuarda or Donizetti's Fille du Régiment - allows us to hear his mastery of the difficulties of Bel Canto. He has a remarkable ease in the high notes that he works on by recording his rehearsals with his smartphone. A true singing athlete, he loves difficulties, such as the nine high Cs in the first act of Fille du Régiment.

Flórez knows how to alternate easily between high notes and a low timbre. He is also a talented actor who uses his young leading man's physique to seduce the most recalcitrant.