Juan Diego Flórez

Composers

Biography

Born: January 13, 1973; Lima, Peru  
Sometimes promoted as the successor to Luciano Pavarotti, Peru's Juan Diego Flórez is actually a very different kind of tenor, and one of a sort that has not been seen much in recent years: his voice is light, extremely athletic, and suited above all to the bel canto tenor roles of the early nineteenth century. Among the accomplishments of his young career was the restoration to its proper place of a difficult passage, long considered unsingable, Read more in the role of Almaviva in Rossini's Il barbière di Siviglia. His primary vocal model is not Pavarotti but Spanish tenor Alfredo Kraus -- a performer less well known to the general public but equally well admired among opera cognoscenti.

Born in 1973 in Lima to a folk guitarist father, Flórez sang when he was young in a rock band that specialized in Beatles and Led Zeppelin covers. What set him on the road to an operatic career was a free voice course he took in conjunction with membership in his high school choir. He enrolled at the Lima Conservatory when he was 17, moving on from there to Philadelphia's Curtis Institute on a full scholarship. One mentor was Peruvian tenor Ernesto Palacio, who became Flórez's manager.

At the 1996 Pesaro Festival in Italy, Flórez was booked to sing a minor role in Rossini's Ricciardo e Zoraide but took over the lead role in a newly unearthed Rossini opera called Matilde di Shabran after the scheduled tenor had to cancel. Rhapsodic praise from hard-to-please Italian opera fans led to a debut at La Scala in Gluck's Armide and then to the rest of the world's major opera houses over the next several years. His Metropolitan Opera debut in New York came in 2002 as Almaviva in Il barbière -- a role that has emerged as one of his specialties.

Possessed of good looks and trademark curly hair that have elicited nearly universal comment among music writers, Flórez faced pressure to assume the mantle of opera megastardom. He has won praise from close observers of the operatic scene, however, for taking account of the unusual nature of his voice and sticking to the repertory to which he is best suited, avoiding for the most part the heavier roles of Verdi and reintroducing audiences to something of the full fire that might have been heard on an Italian stage of the early nineteenth century. "I think I know my limitations," Flórez told The Economist in 2002. "I have been offered Mozart's Mitridate. I looked at the part, but it's all just a little low, and he's just a bit too angry all the time. It's not for me." An accomplished singing actor with a gift for comedy, Flórez has excelled in roles such as Tonio in Donizetti's La fille du régiment and the title role in Rossini 's Le Comte Ory.

Flórez has released three solo albums on the Decca label: one of Rossini arias, one (Una furtiva lagrima) including arias by Bellini and Donizetti, and 2004's Great Tenor Arias, which in the words of London's Observer newspaper "confirms his growing reputation as one of the most exciting vocal talents around." He has expressed an interest in exploring the repertory of Peruvian song. Read less
Browse 1-25 of 51 Available Recordings
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  • 1.
    Rossini: Matilde di Shabran / Florez, Peretyatko
    Rossini: Matilde di Shabran / Florez, Peretyatko
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001894909 Release Date: 09/17/2013   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Gioachino Rossini
    Performer:  Giorgio Misseri,  Simón Orfila,  Nicola Alaima,  Olga Peretyatko  ... 
    Conductor:  Michele Mariotti
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Bologna Teatro Comunale Chorus,  Bologna Teatro Comunale Orchestra
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  • 2.
    Rossini: Matilde Di Shabran / Mariotti, Florez, Peretyatko, Bordogna, Goryachova [blu-ray]
    Rossini: Matilde Di Shabran / Mariotti, Florez, Peretyatko, Bordogna, Goryachova [blu-ray]
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001895059 Release Date: 09/17/2013  
    Composer:  Gioachino Rossini
    Performer:  Paolo Bordogna,  Juan Diego Flórez,  Olga Peretyatko,  Anna Goryachova  ... 
    Conductor:  Michele Mariotti
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Bologna Teatro Comunale Chorus,  Bologna Teatro Comunale Orchestra
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  • 3.
    Verdi: The Complete Works
    Verdi: The Complete Works
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001806202 Release Date: 03/05/2013   Number of Discs: 75
    Composer:  Giuseppe Verdi
    Performer:  Maria Guleghina,  Samuel Ramey,  Violeta Urmana,  Sara Fulgoni  ... 
    Conductor:  Sir Neville Marriner,  Lamberto Gardelli,  James Levine,  Richard Bonynge  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Academy of St. Martin in the Fields,  London Voices,  Royal Philharmonic Orchestra  ... 
    CD: $199.49
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  • 4.
    Rossini: Zelmira / Florez, Aldrich, Kunde, Abbado [blu-ray]
    Rossini: Zelmira / Florez, Aldrich, Kunde, Abbado [blu-ray]
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001718359 Release Date: 11/20/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Gioachino Rossini
    Performer:  Gregory Kunde,  Kate Aldrich,  Marianna Pizzolato,  Juan Diego Flórez  ... 
    Conductor:  Claudio Abbado
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Bologna Teatro Comunale Chorus,  Bologna Teatro Comunale Orchestra
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  • 5.
    Rossini: Zelmira / Florez, Aldrich, Kunde, Abbado, Teatro Comunale De Bologna
    Rossini: Zelmira / Florez, Aldrich, Kunde, Abbado, Teatro Comunale De Bologna
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001718209 Release Date: 09/25/2012   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Gioachino Rossini
    Performer:  Alex Esposito,  Juan Diego Flórez,  Marianna Pizzolato,  Kate Aldrich  ... 
    Conductor:  Roberto Abbado
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Bologna Teatro Comunale Chorus,  Bologna Teatro Comunale Orchestra
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  • 6.
    Classical 2012
    Classical 2012
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001675702 Release Date: 05/08/2012   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,  Sergei Rachmaninov,  Georges Bizet,  Giovanni Battista Pergolesi  ... 
    Performer:  Cecilia Bartoli,  Lang Lang,  Andrea Bocelli,  Anna Netrebko  ... 
    Conductor:  Myung-Whun Chung,  Antonio Pappano,  Gustavo Dudamel,  Marco Armiliato  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  I Fagiolini
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  • 7.
    Opera 2012
    Opera 2012
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001675802 Release Date: 05/08/2012   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,  Giuseppe Verdi,  Vincenzo Bellini,  Umberto Giordano  ... 
    Performer:  Joyce DiDonato,  Andrea Bocelli,  Anna Netrebko,  Jonas Kaufmann  ... 
    Conductor:  Kazushi Ono,  Zubin Mehta,  Fabio Luisi,  Antonio Pappano  ... 
    CD: $18.99
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  • 8.
    Rossini: Le Comte Ory / Benini, Florez, Damrau, DiDonato, Degout
    Rossini: Le Comte Ory / Benini, Florez, Damrau, DiDonato, Degout
    Label: Virgin Classics   Catalog: 70959 Release Date: 04/03/2012   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Gioachino Rossini
    Performer:  Michele Pertusi,  Stèphane Degout,  Juan Diego Flórez,  Joyce DiDonato  ... 
    Conductor:  Maurizio Benini
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
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  • 9.
    One Fine Day / Katherine Jenkins [CD & DVD]
    One Fine Day / Katherine Jenkins [CD & DVD]
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 2781057 Release Date: 10/11/2011   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Charles Gounod,  Giacomo Puccini,  Andrew Lloyd Webber,  Michael Kamen  ... 
    Performer:  Katherine Jenkins,  Tim Rhys-Evans,  Juan Diego Flórez
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Serendipity
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  • 10.
    Anna Netrebko - Live At The Met
    Anna Netrebko - Live At The Met
    Label: Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 001598702 Release Date: 09/20/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Vincenzo Bellini,  Sergei Prokofiev,  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,  Gaetano Donizetti  ... 
    Performer:  Anna Netrebko,  Ekaterina Sementchuk,  Dmitri Hvorostovsky,  Juan Diego Flórez  ... 
    Conductor:  Patrick Summers,  Valery Gergiev,  Sylvain Cambreling,  Maurizio Benini  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
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  • 11.
    The Opera Album 2011
    The Opera Album 2011
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001566102 Release Date: 06/14/2011   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Georges Bizet,  Giacomo Puccini,  Ruggero Leoncavallo,  Alfredo Catalani  ... 
    Performer:  Bryn Terfel,  Anna Netrebko,  Andrea Bocelli,  Jonas Kaufmann  ... 
    Conductor:  Barry Wordsworth,  Gianandrea Noseda,  Zubin Mehta,  Antonio Pappano  ... 
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  • 12.
    Sospiri / Cecilia Bartoli
    Sospiri / Cecilia Bartoli
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001515102 Release Date: 01/11/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  George Frideric Handel,  Antonio Vivaldi,  Geminiano Giacomelli,  Antonio Caldara  ... 
    Performer:  Cecilia Bartoli,  Bryn Terfel,  Juan Diego Flórez,  Luigi Piovano  ... 
    Conductor:  Marc Minkowski,  Giovanni Antonini,  Claudio Abbado,  Myung-Whun Chung  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Les Musiciens du Louvre,  Il Giardino Armonico,  Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra  ... 
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  • 13.
    Celebracion - Opening Night Concert & Gala / Dudamel, Florez, LA Philharmonic
    Celebracion - Opening Night Concert & Gala / Dudamel, Florez, LA Philharmonic
    Label: Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 001505009 Release Date: 12/14/2010   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Gioachino Rossini,  Isabel "Chabuca" Granda,  Agustín Lara,  José P. Moncayo García  ... 
    Performer:  Juan Diego Flórez
    Conductor:  Gustavo Dudamel
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
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  • 14.
    Sospiri / Cecilia Bartoli
    Sospiri / Cecilia Bartoli
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001490802 Release Date: 11/09/2010   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  George Frideric Handel,  Geminiano Giacomelli,  Antonio Vivaldi,  Antonio Caldara  ... 
    Performer:  Cecilia Bartoli,  Bryn Terfel,  Juan Diego Flórez,  Luciano Pavarotti  ... 
    Conductor:  Giovanni Antonini,  Marc Minkowski,  Claudio Abbado,  Myung-Whun Chung  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Il Giardino Armonico,  Les Musiciens du Louvre,  Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra  ... 
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  • 15.
    Verdi: Rigoletto / Luisi, Damrau, Florez, Lucic, Dresden Opera
    Verdi: Rigoletto / Luisi, Damrau, Florez, Lucic, Dresden Opera
    Label: Virgin Classics   Catalog: 41868 Release Date: 10/26/2010   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Giuseppe Verdi
    Performer:  Zeljko Lucic,  Juan Diego Flórez,  Diana Damrau
    Conductor:  Fabio Luisi
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Sächsische Staatskapelle
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  • 16.
    Santo - Sacred Songs / Juan Diego Florez
    Santo - Sacred Songs / Juan Diego Florez
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001487502 Release Date: 10/25/2010   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Johann Joseph Fux,  César Franck,  Adolphe Adam,  Vincenzo Bellini  ... 
    Performer:  Juan Diego Flórez
    Conductor:  Michele Mariotti
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Bologna Teatro Comunale Chorus,  Bologna Teatro Comunale Orchestra
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  • 17.
    Bellini: I Puritani / Mariotti, Florez, D'arcangelo, Machaidze
    Bellini: I Puritani / Mariotti, Florez, D'arcangelo, Machaidze
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001485909 Release Date: 10/19/2010   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Vincenzo Bellini
    Performer:  Gabriele Viviani,  Nino Machaidze,  Juan Diego Flórez,  Ildebrando D'Arcangelo  ... 
    Conductor:  Michele Mariotti
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Bologna Teatro Comunale Chorus,  Bologna Teatro Comunale Orchestra
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  • 18.
    Gluck: Orphee Et Eurydice / Juan Diego Florez
    Gluck: Orphee Et Eurydice / Juan Diego Florez
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001415502 Release Date: 05/04/2010   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Christoph W. Gluck
    Performer:  Alessandra Marianelli,  Juan Diego Flórez,  Ainhoa Garmendia
    Conductor:  Jesús Lopez-Cobos
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Madrid Teatro Real Chorus,  Madrid Teatro Real Orchestra
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  • 19.
    Rossini: Il Barbiere Di Siviglia / Florez, DiDonato, Spagnoli
    Rossini: Il Barbiere Di Siviglia / Florez, DiDonato, Spagnoli
    Label: Virgin Classics   Catalog: 94581 Release Date: 04/20/2010   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Gioachino Rossini
    Performer:  Joyce DiDonato,  Pietro Spagnoli,  Juan Diego Flórez
    Conductor:  Antonio Pappano
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  • 20.
    Bellini: La Sonnambula / Pido, Florez, Dessay, Metropolitan Opera
    Bellini: La Sonnambula / Pido, Florez, Dessay, Metropolitan Opera
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001388509 Release Date: 02/16/2010   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Vincenzo Bellini
    Performer:  Natalie Dessay,  Juan Diego Flórez,  Michele Pertusi
    Conductor:  Evelino Pidò
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Metropolitan Opera Chorus,  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
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  • 21.
    Prima Donna - The First Ladies Of Opera
    Prima Donna - The First Ladies Of Opera
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001396202 Release Date: 02/09/2010   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,  Giacomo Puccini,  George Frideric Handel,  Gaetano Donizetti  ... 
    Performer:  Karita Mattila,  Montserrat Caballé,  Danielle De Niese,  Elina Garanca  ... 
    Conductor:  John Pritchard,  Sir Colin Davis,  William Christie,  Roberto Abbado  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Philharmonia Orchestra,  Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra,  Les Arts Florissants  ... 
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  • 22.
    Rossini: La Cenerentola / Summers, Florez, Di Donato
    Rossini: La Cenerentola / Summers, Florez, Di Donato
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001337409 Release Date: 10/27/2009   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Gioachino Rossini
    Performer:  Cristina Obregón,  David Menéndez,  Bruno De Simone,  Joyce DiDonato  ... 
    Conductor:  Patrick Summers
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Gran Teatre Del Liceu
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  • 23.
    Divos & Divas
    Divos & Divas
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001305902 Release Date: 08/25/2009   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Johann Strauss Jr.,  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,  Camille Saint-Saëns,  Giacomo Puccini  ... 
    Performer:  Dame Kiri Te Kanawa,  Olga Borodina,  Nicole Cabell,  Anna Netrebko  ... 
    Conductor:  Julius Rudel,  Sir Georg Solti,  Carlo Rizzi,  Sir Andrew Davis  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Utah Symphony Orchestra,  London Philharmonic Orchestra,  Welsh National Opera Orchestra  ... 
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  • 24.
    Bellini: La Sonnambula / De Marchi, Bartoli, Flórez, D'Arcangelo
    Bellini: La Sonnambula / De Marchi, Bartoli, Flórez, D'Arcangelo
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001238302 Release Date: 02/24/2009   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Vincenzo Bellini
    Performer:  Ildebrando D'Arcangelo,  Cecilia Bartoli,  Juan Diego Flórez
    Conductor:  Alessandro De Marchi
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Scintilla Chamber Orchestra,  Zurich La Scintilla Orchestra
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  • 25.
    Bel Canto Spectacular / Juan Diego Flórez
    Bel Canto Spectacular / Juan Diego Flórez
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001244502 Release Date: 01/13/2009   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Gioachino Rossini,  Gaetano Donizetti,  Vincenzo Bellini
    Performer:  Placido Domingo,  Juan Diego Flórez,  Daniela Barcellona,  Patrizia Ciofi  ... 
    Conductor:  Daniel Oren
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana
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