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Juan Diego Flórez... Quote. Unquote.
Ed Rosen of premiereopera.com on the Metropolitan Opera Guild Luncheon
honoring Carlo Bergonzi on 25 April 2002...
"Juan Diego Florez was the entertainment, and he 'only' sang the Fille du Regiment aria, and was magnificent. The voice sounded really ringing in the room, with no amplification. It was bright and beautiful, and the high C's were "nailed" as I've rarely if ever heard them. The final C was held for an eternity, and, predictably, the place went wild. In an unexpected moment, Bergonzi called Florez to the microphone after the aria, and told the room that people say there are no more great tenors coming up. None in NY, Italy, London. None anywhere. But, said Carlo, here, in Florez, is a truly great tenor, and one that not only has the voice, but the brains to have a long and wonderful career. It was obvious that Bergonzi was tremendously impressed with Florez, and as the two tenors embraced, it was sort of like the old world passing the torch to the new world. It was really quite moving."
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Ernesto Palacio on the media's tendency to call Flórez 'The next Pavarotti' in The Sunday Times, 12 May 2002 ...
"We don't like it when journalists write this, because Juan Diego is the first Flórez. This is a new phenomenon for tenors; there was never a big star who specialised in my repertory. If you like, he is the male version of Cecilia Bartoli, who has shown that a small but brilliant
voice can become a big star. Maybe the time has come for Rossini."
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Juan Diego Flórez on the same subject in the same article...
"I'm not another Pavarotti. In fact, the only one of the famous tenors you can really compare my voice with is Alfredo Kraus, who concentrated on Donizetti, Bellini and the lighter Verdi roles. I sing some of his operas, but I go back to Rossini rather than forward to Verdi. I also
have two or three operas in common with Pavarotti, but this can be a problem because people hear me and think, 'Wait a minute - this isn't how Pavarotti sang those parts.'"
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Melanie Eskenazi in Seen & Heard on Flórez's May 18th concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London...
"'Una Furtiva Lagrima,' the best - known aria in the programme, was simply stunning; if Caruso sang it better then I would be surprised. Florez gave it a freshness, a forwardness in the tone, an eagerness without overstatement, such as I have never before heard, and his
elegance of phrasing and fluid legato line were just perfection - it's one thing to phrase 'Una furtive lagrima' with elegance, quite another to bring the same finesse and emotion to 'Negl'occhi suoi spunto,' but he did, and more. This was singing of absolute technical mastery, of dramatic conviction and above all, wonderful taste and accuracy; 'Bravissimo!' yelled someone even before the music had ended, and I would defy anyone to suggest that such a reaction was undeserved."
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Juan Diego Flórez on bel canto roles in an interview by Jesus Ruiz
Mantilla in El Pais, 13 April 2002...
"Necesitas audacia, descaro y la seguridad también de que tienes las notas porque si no es embarazoso. En el bel canto estás sólo tú y tu voz, desnudo"
"Me encanta hacer estos papeles, me dan una sensación especial, es una adrenalina constante. Debes cantar bonito, con legato, es decir, suavidad y con energía en el momento de los fuegos artificiales, estar fuerte en el aspecto atlético vocal."
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Nicola.Pedrotti of Il Giardino Lirico on Flórez in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Verona, 6 December 2001...
"In questa grande bellezza visiva, era doveroso chiedere altrettanta bellezza 'uditiva', e a Verona abbiamo avuto anche questa. Sopra tutti l'inarrivabile Juan Diego Flórez, semplicemente sbalorditivo nella facilità con cui snocciola le sue agilità, nella morbidezza della sua linea di canto, nella partecipazione di un fraseggio accurato, nella bellezza di un timbro accattivante e luminoso; per non parlare della simpatia scenica (ho già accennato al suo Don Alonso, capolavoro di ironia e di brio)."
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Alberto Corrado on Florez in Rossini Arias...
"L'Otello di Juan Diego ha un fascino tutto particolare nell'aplomb degli accenti aulici e nel calore di un guerriero impavido e di un amante appassionato. Il recitativo ha una scansione eroica e una mmorbidezza elegiaca esemplare. Per non parlare poi delle spaventose
tessiture di Ilo della Zelmira che, insistenti sugli acuti, conducono la voce fino al registro più alto attraverso agilità sgranate. Per Juan Diego Florez nulla sembra essere un problema; ma ciò che colpisce maggiormente è la capacità di ricreare le atmosfere perdute della grande
opera rossiniana."
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This page was last updated on: February 28, 2007
