REVIEW Recital: Kansas City, 21 April 2002 Peruvian tenor is next one to watch Paul Horsley, The Kansas City Star, 22 April 2002 Each great tenor is unique and distinguishes himself in ways that continue to inspire the public's fascination in this most peculiar of vocal ranges. Juan Diego Florez, who gave his United States recital debut Sunday at the Folly Theater, has much of the charisma and vocal splendor of the best tenors of our era. His program of songs and arias cajoled and thrilled an audience that felt perhaps it was taking part in something historic. Florez, you see, is the fifth important tenor to make his U.S. or world recital debut on the Harriman Arts Program's series -- Pavarotti having been the first, in 1973. And while the Metropolitan Opera's newest star tenor seemed an apt choice for this proud succession, it remains pointless to speculate on whether he is "the next Pavarotti," because the two singers' vocal styles are as different as Aretha's and Mariah's. Florez is a bright-voiced "Rossinian" tenor, though that doesn't mean that Rossini is all he can sing. Fierce and infinitely flexible, at turns luxuriant or stern, his voice seems to have a life apart from its owner. Partly this is a result of its "forwardness," its use of much head and upper chest. On Sunday this allowed him to negotiate with extraordinary skill the death-defying passagework of Mozart's "Si spande al sole in faccia" or Rossini's "Cessa di piu." The latter, often cut from "The Barber of Seville" but restored for the current Met production in which Florez stars, allowed the tenor to show the full extent of his hypercharged technique and limpid, metallic upper register. Bellini's "E serbato a questo acciaro" had the right sense of florid bel canto urgency, while in Donizetti's "Ah! mes amis" the famous series of nine high C's were like little ingots of silver shot from a cannon. In the three traditional Peruvian songs we observed a different Florez, a sort of folksy nightclub singer, complete with seductive theatrics. Elsewhere, as in the songs like Mozart's "Ridente la calma" or the three Tosti numbers, he plumbed a range of moods -- and revealed the various traits of his voice. His high register can carry a sort of preciousness, the midrange a sweetness and the low register a sort of breathy roar. In the three encores -- the fragrant "La Jota" by Serrano, the torchy "Grenada" and the ubiquitous "La donna e mobile" -- the tenor was in his element, playing without excess the different aspects of a Latin lover. "Playing?" It's the tension between the stereotype and the perceived reality of this tenor with the matinee-idol looks that will continue to ensure his success. |
REVIEW Recital: Kansas City, 21 April 2002 Peruvian tenor is next one to watch Paul Horsley, The Kansas City Star, 22 April 2002 Each great tenor is unique and distinguishes himself in ways that continue to inspire the public's fascination in this most peculiar of vocal ranges. Juan Diego Florez, who gave his United States recital debut Sunday at the Folly Theater, has much of the charisma and vocal splendor of the best tenors of our era. His program of songs and arias cajoled and thrilled an audience that felt perhaps it was taking part in something historic. Florez, you see, is the fifth important tenor to make his U.S. or world recital debut on the Harriman Arts Program's series -- Pavarotti having been the first, in 1973. And while the Metropolitan Opera's newest star tenor seemed an apt choice for this proud succession, it remains pointless to speculate on whether he is "the next Pavarotti," because the two singers' vocal styles are as different as Aretha's and Mariah's. Florez is a bright-voiced "Rossinian" tenor, though that doesn't mean that Rossini is all he can sing. Fierce and infinitely flexible, at turns luxuriant or stern, his voice seems to have a life apart from its owner. Partly this is a result of its "forwardness," its use of much head and upper chest. On Sunday this allowed him to negotiate with extraordinary skill the death-defying passagework of Mozart's "Si spande al sole in faccia" or Rossini's "Cessa di piu." The latter, often cut from "The Barber of Seville" but restored for the current Met production in which Florez stars, allowed the tenor to show the full extent of his hypercharged technique and limpid, metallic upper register. Bellini's "E serbato a questo acciaro" had the right sense of florid bel canto urgency, while in Donizetti's "Ah! mes amis" the famous series of nine high C's were like little ingots of silver shot from a cannon. In the three traditional Peruvian songs we observed a different Florez, a sort of folksy nightclub singer, complete with seductive theatrics. Elsewhere, as in the songs like Mozart's "Ridente la calma" or the three Tosti numbers, he plumbed a range of moods -- and revealed the various traits of his voice. His high register can carry a sort of preciousness, the midrange a sweetness and the low register a sort of breathy roar. In the three encores -- the fragrant "La Jota" by Serrano, the torchy "Grenada" and the ubiquitous "La donna e mobile" -- the tenor was in his element, playing without excess the different aspects of a Latin lover. "Playing?" It's the tension between the stereotype and the perceived reality of this tenor with the matinee-idol looks that will continue to ensure his success. |
This page was last updated on: April 22, 2002
