Carnegie Hall

Once hailed as “the Rossini tenor of the new century” by Opera magazine, Juan Diego Flórez’s voice captivates with its gleaming sound and moving tenderness. What defines him, however, is his virtuosity—the fleet feats of singing that involve flooding houses around the globe with sumptuous notes at the top of his range, or else conquering the difficult runs typical of 19-century opera.

This month on Carnegie Hall+, we showcase this once-in-a-lifetime voice, whose ring, resonance, and artistic rigor are now available for on-demand watching and listening.

Born in Lima in 1973, Flórez was raised by two parents known locally for their contributions to the Peruvian music scene. His father, Rubén, was a guitarist and well-regarded singer of criolla, a varied genre of music that exhibits influences from European, African, and Andean traditions. His mother, María Teresa Salom, managed a pub with live music; early on, Juan Diego worked as a replacement singer whenever his mother’s main headliner called in sick. “It was a tremendous experience for me, since most of those who were regulars at the pub were of a certain age,” he once recalled in an interview, “so I had to be ready to sing anything from (Andean music) to Elvis Presley.”

At age 17, with the aim of pursuing a career in popular music, Juan Diego entered the national conservatory, where his classical training eventually took shape. Receiving a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia after a year spent auditioning in the early 1990s, he began to specialize in the florid bel canto works of Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti.

Juan Diego’s breakthrough came in 1996 at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Italy, when he stepped in to replace the ailing lead in Rossini’s castle melodrama Matilde di Shabran. A spate of high-profile engagements immediately followed at La Scala, Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera, as well as a well-received first album of Rossini arias in 2002.

Starring as the mountaineer Tonio in the Metropolitan Opera’s long-awaited revival of Donizetti’s La fille du régiment in 2008, he delivered the opera’s impossible string of high Cs in Act I—and then, to the audience’s delight, brought them back for a mid-act encore. The crowd went wild. “Mr. Flórez offers a splendid metaphor for something that cannot be historically reproduced,” raved The New York Times. “His tone is slender but athletic. It has a ring and a resonance easily heard in a space the size of which Donizetti certainly did not plan on.”

With his pop roots and experience gracing more intimate venues, Flórez has also sprouted an avid following at the world’s foremost concert and recital halls, presenting programs that often feature showtunes (“You’ll Never Walk Alone” is a Floréz signature) and lesser-known gems alongside the operatic hits that cemented his fame.

At his Carnegie Hall debut in 2007, he capped the requisite bel canto repertoire with works by Peruvian composer Rosa Mercedes Ayarza de Morales. Playing to what the Los Angeles Times referred to as a “rapturous” audience in Santa Monica in 2009, Flórez wove in the lyrical melodies of Spanish zarzuela. “In my concerts, people love when I sing a Latin encore with guitar,” he told The Guardian. “I think spontaneous and free reactions are the most natural.”

Newcomers and longtime fans can experience the full range of Flórez’s talent on Carnegie Hall+. Highlights include a landmark production of La fille du régiment from 2007, featuring Flórez alongside sopranos Natalie Dessay and Montserrat Caballé at the Vienna State Opera; a fast-paced 2008 performance of Rossini’s La Cenerentola with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato from Barcelona; and, more recently, a witty new production of Rossini’s crusades farce Le comte Ory from the Rossini Opera Festival where he got his start. Recital devotees can check out a dazzling program of works by Beethoven, R. Strauss, Bellini, Verdi, Puccini, and others from the 2020 Salzburg Festival, in which Flórez showcases his blazing technique with Vincenzo Scalera at the piano.

Never one to coast on past achievements, the tenor continues to add new roles to his repertoire even today. But he is also diversifying his career. In 2011, Flórez helped found the Sinfonía por el Perú, which funds music programs for underprivileged children across that country—a similar initiative to Venezuela’s El Sistema that reared conductor Gustavo Dudamel. Flórez says that the purpose has been to improve the lives of children through music without the pressures of formal instruction. “My life is more fulfilling, especially because of what I do with the foundation,” he explained to The New York Times. “I’m connected to the world in a different way now.”

As he continues to grow into his new role as an empowered—and empowering—program administrator, Flórez has made it his mission to connect to music lovers both on stage and off. On Carnegie Hall+, subscribers can experience Flórez’s immense artistry, thrill to his high Cs, and witness his extraordinary rise to the pinnacle of the opera world.

Photography: Flórez by Chris Lee.