Peruvian tenor soars to fame

May 9, 2002

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez, who has captivated audiences in the world's most prestigious opera houses during his brief career and is hailed by critics as bel canto's newest star, says he is as astonished as anyone else at how far he has come.

With a voice called "lithe," explosive like "fireworks," and limber enough for vocal "acrobatics," 29-year-old Florez has in just six years serenaded opera buffs on top stages such as New York's Met and London's Covent Gardens.

"It's all happened so quickly. It's been job after job and just recently have I started to think about everything I've achieved," Florez, who gave two performances in his hometown of Lima in late April, told Reuters.

The light lyric tenor's voice, agile and capable of hitting high-pitched notes, has won rave reviews as it traipses with ease along the toughest arias of his favorite bel canto composer, Gioachinno Rossini.

The light, bright bel canto opera, which means in Italian "beautiful singing," arose in the 16th and 17th centuries and focuses on beauty of tone rather than dramatic power.

Dressed in a dark blue suit, Florez not only showcases his famous voice but the dark eyes, curly hair, charisma and graceful humility that have made him opera's newest superstar who the Financial Times called the "international tenorino du jour."

CHALLENGING BEL CANTO

While bel canto has in recent years focused on female singers, tenors like Florez have begun to shift the spotlight back to male stars.

"The Rossini style requires a great deal of flexibility and one must make sudden voice shifts or hold a pitch for a long time," he said.

"In Rossini's time, singers showcased everything they could do. Those were the days of bel canto," added Florez, who looks up to the late Spanish tenor Alfredo Krauss and Italian Luciano Pavarotti -- with whom he has been compared.

"I'm pleased by the comparison because we have such different voices," he said.

The tenor also said he had been influenced by Peru's Ernesto Palacio, who has been his manager since 1994, and Luis Alva.

Florez's career took flight in 1996 when he stepped in at Italy's Rossini de Pesaro festival after tenor Bruce Ford fell ill two weeks before the opening of "Matilde di Shabran."

"It was my big chance. I had been hired for a small role and then the lead tenor got sick ... . Thankfully it all worked out, which opened doors for me at the world's most important theaters," Florez said.

"I was surprised by my own nerves of steel -- which were helped by the fact that because I was so young I thought I knew everything."

According to New York Magazine, the tenor "seems to have it all: voice, looks, style, personality, musical refinement and an appealing stage appearance."

Often seen on stage with eyebrows drawn in dramatic agony, Florez says he prefers comic acting.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM

He also boasts a growing list of singing honors, like Italy's Abbiati prize as the best singer of 2000, the prestigious Rossini de Oro award in Pesaro, Italy, and the Aureliano Pertile award in Padua, Italy in 2001.

"Rossini Arias," his first major solo album recorded with classical record label Decca, topped the list of classical music sales in New York in February. Florez's next disc, featuring bel canto masters Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti, is due out early next year.

Florez's musical tastes did not always run to opera. As a youth in a middle-class Peruvian family, he accompanied his father, a folk singer, to gigs and appeared on TV shows. As a teen-ager, his rock band competed in festivals.

"Whoever likes good music likes all music," said Florez, who is planning an album featuring Latin sounds.

But at age 17, Florez gave up rock for classical music and entered Lima's conservatory. He later left Peru to study in Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music.

While he has settled in Bergamo, Italy, Florez is a globe-trotter. He returns every so often to Lima, where he devours his mother's traditional Peruvian dishes like seafood delicacy ceviche.

 © 1999-2004, PERU TO YOU    This page last updated on January 03, 2009