Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County presents
Juan Diego Flórez in Recital
Juan Diego Flórez, Tenor
Gioachino Rossini
“Le sylvain”
Vincenzo Bellini
“Malinconia, ninfa gentile”
“Vanne, o rosa fortunata”
“La ricordanza”
Arietta: Almen se non poss’io (arrangement for piano solo by Carl Czerny)
Gaetano Donizetti
“Ah! Rammenta, o bella Irene”
“Ed ancora la tremenda porta … Come uno spirito angelico,” from Roberto Devereux
—Intermission—
Reveriano Soutullo, Juan Vert
“Bella enamorada,” from El último romántico
Agustín Pérez Soriano
“Suena, guitarrico mío,” from El guitarrico
José Serrano
“Aquí está quien lo tiene tó y no tiene ná,” from La alegría del batallón
Ernesto Lecuona
Mazurka Glissando (piano solo)
Jules Massenet
“Ah, tout est bien fini … Ô souverain, ô juge, ô père,” from Le Cid
Charles Gounod
“Quel trouble inconnu me pénètre … Salut! Demeure chaste et pure,” from Faust
Benjamin Godard
Berceuse from Jocelyn (piano arrangement)
Giacomo Puccini
“Che gelida manina,” from La bohème
Juan Diego Flórez
Photo courtesy Kristin Hoebermann.
With a career that includes performances on the world’s leading stages, Juan Diego Flórez has established himself as one of opera’s greatest talents with his expressive singing and virtuosity. His generosity, charisma and passion inspire his many philanthropic endeavors, in addition to his acclaimed operatic appearances and recordings.
Flórez (Lima, 1973) began singing and playing Peruvian folk and pop music at an early age. He inherited from his family a love for Peruvian and Latin American music. When he was a teenager, he wrote his own songs and sang live in piano bars frequented by his schoolmates in Lima. In 1989, the young singer won Peru’s first Festival of Song for Peace, which was broadcast on TV nationwide.
In 1990, he gained a place at Peru’s National Conservatory of Music and later became a member of Peru’s National Choir. The choir played a decisive part in his musical development, giving him the invaluable experience of performing music by the greatest composers at a professional level.
Keen to travel and to continue his education, Flórez won a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He studied there between 1993 and 1996, and had the opportunity to sing in a number of fully staged operas with an orchestra, an excellent foundation for what was to become a spectacular career.
In 1996, Flórez auditioned in Bologna for the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, and was immediately cast by its artistic director in a small role in Ricciardo e Zoraide. He never sang this part, however, because the events were about to catapult him into the firmament of the international opera world.
It was summer 1996, and Flórez was already in Pesaro, rehearsing for Ricciardo e Zoraide. Shortly before the festival’s opening night, the tenor who was due to sing the leading role of Corradino in Matilde di Shabran had to pull out because of illness. The organizers began a desperate search for a stand-in who might be up to the challenge—a less than easy task, given that this was a little-known opera, the first night was only days away and Corradino is a very difficult role to sing. It was then that artistic director Luigi Ferrari offered the part to the 23-year-old Flórez, who accepted the offer and challenge. After a frenetic few days, the eagerly awaited first night arrived: August 13, 1996. It was a huge hit, and marked the start of his stellar career.
From that moment onward, opera houses around the world set their sights on the young tenor, including the most famous of all: La Scala in Milan. Flórez made his La Scala debut on December 7, 1996—a significant date, in that it was the opening night of the season—under the baton of Riccardo Muti, who was to be a key influence on the tenor over the next few years. Flórez had visited La Scala a few months earlier and, gazing out across the auditorium from one of the boxes, had said, with great prescience, “I’ll be singing here within 10 years.” He could never have imagined that he’d be starring there just 10 months later.
Since then, Flórez has appeared at all the world’s leading opera houses, concert halls and music festivals, including the Metropolitan in New York, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vienna Staatsoper, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and Zurich Opernhaus.
Florez’s repertoire includes numerous bel canto roles in operas by Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini. In recent years, he has expanded his repertoire to the French romantic repertoire, including operas such as Werther, Roméo and Juliette and Les Hugenots. His next projects include performances in operas such as La bohème, Faust, Guillaume Tell and Les contes d’Hoffmann, as well as recitals and concerts in some of the world’s leading stages.
Flórez has recorded numerous solo albums, as well as complete operas on CD and DVD. He has been recognized as one of the best tenors in history by the BBC, and has received numerous accolades and awards, including the Echo Klassik Preis, the Diapason d’Or, the Choc du Monde de la Musique and Gramophone Award. In 2012, he received the Austrian government title of Kammersänger.
Flórez has always maintained a close relationship with his native country, which has awarded him its very highest distinction: the Order of the Sun, Grand Cross. In 2011, he founded Sinfonía por el Perú, an inclusive social project inspired in the Venezuelan “El Sistema” that aims to enhance the personal and artistic development of the most vulnerable children and youth in the country through music. In recognition of his work, he was appointed UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 2012 and received the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum in 2014.
For more information, go to JuanDiegoFlorez.com.
Vincenzo Scalera
Photo courtesy artist management.
Vincenzo Scalera was born in New Jersey to Italian-American parents, and began piano studies at the age of 5. He graduated from the Manhattan School of Music, and early in his career he served as assistant conductor with the New Jersey State Opera.
After relocating to Italy to continue his musical training, Scalera in 1980 joined the musical staff of Milan’s Teatro alla Scala as coach and pianist, a position that would define much of his professional life. At La Scala, he worked in rehearsal and coaching capacities alongside distinguished conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Gianandrea Gavazzeni and Carlos Kleiber.
Over the years, Scalera has appeared at numerous leading music festivals, including Edinburgh, Martina Franca (Festival della Valle d’Itria), Jerusalem, Istanbul, Les Chorégies d’Orange, Carinthian Summer, Salzburg Festival and the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. As a pianist and vocal accompanist, he has collaborated with many renowned singers, among them Carlo Bergonzi, Andrea Bocelli, Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Juan Diego Flórez, Leyla Gencer, Vittorio Grigolo, Sumi Jo, Raina Kabaivanska, Katia Ricciarelli, Renata Scotto, Cesare Siepi and Lucia Valentini Terrani.
Scalera’s recorded output includes recital albums and televised concert productions. Notable entries in his discography are La Promessa with Sumi Jo, Verdi: Complete Songs with Renata Scotto, Carlo Bergonzi in Concerto, Canzone: The Art of Bel Canto and the Comeback Concerts series with José Carreras. In 2021, he recorded an album with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili for Sony Classics titled Elegie. In 2024, he released A te, Puccini with Angela Georghiu for Signum Classics.
Scalera is a Steinway Artist. He currently holds a teaching or coaching position at the Accademia d’Arti e Mestieri of Teatro alla Scala in Milan. He enjoys a long-standing artistic partnership with Juan Diego Flórez. Over many years, they have performed recitals together at world-class venues such as Carnegie Hall, Teatro alla Scala, Philharmonie de Paris and the Palau de la Música Catalana, as well as at leading festivals including the Salzburg Festival and Lucerne Festival. Their collaboration, grounded in deep musical understanding, now finds an additional dimension in their first joint recording project.
In all his work, Scalera brings a refined musical sensitivity, a thorough grounding in vocal repertoire and an ability to support singers with insight and elegance. His contributions as pianist, coach and accompanist continue to enrich the world of opera and vocal recital.
Sinfonía por el Perú
Photo courtesy Sinfonía por el Perú.
Fifteen years ago, Juan Diego Flórez founded Sinfonía por el Perú, a social organization that has transformed the lives of more than 35,000 children and young people growing up in contexts of high risk and vulnerability. Through free music education, they gain access to a safe space that promotes emotional well-being, the development of personal and social skills and the construction of positive and sustainable life projects. Above all, they learn to believe in themselves and to dream of a better future.
Learn more about Sinfonía por el Perú at SinfoniaPorElPeru.org.
Classical Conversations
A native of San Francisco, Justin Moss entered the opera field professionally in 1981. He held management posts with the Virginia Opera, Baltimore Opera and Boston Lyric Opera before joining Florida Grand Opera in 1993.
In addition to his administrative responsibilities, Moss presented informative preview lectures to performance ticket holders for 130 Florida Grand Opera main-stage productions immediately before performances in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Moss has served as a judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions on several occasions in the United States and Canada, and has served as a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts’ Opera Musical-Theater and Advancement programs.
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