Juan Diego Flórez (born Jan. 13, 1973, Lima, Peru) Peruvian opera singer, widely acclaimed for his command of the high tenor range.

 

Flórez, whose father was a performer of popular music, entered Peru’s National Conservatory of Music at age 17. He was originally interested in popular music but later shifted his focus to the development of his classical vocal technique. He received a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, which he attended from 1993 to 1996, and he then studied with the Peruvian tenor Ernesto Palacio, who subsequently became his manager. Flórez’s first break came in 1996 when on short notice he replaced a singer in Matilde di Shabran at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Italy. He made his debut at La Scala in Milan later that year and at Covent Garden in London the next year. Within a few years he was singing in other major opera houses and on concert stages throughout Europe and the Americas.

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. His generosity, charisma and passion inspire his many philanthropic endeavours, in addition to his acclaimed operatic appearances and recordings.

 

 

Vincenzo Scalera was born into an Italian-American family in New Jersey and began playing the piano at the age of five. He was educated at the Manhattan School of Music and worked as an assistant conductor at the New Jersey State Opera. He continued his studies in Italy and was appointed a coach and pianist at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where he worked with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Gianandrea Gavazzeni and Carlos Kleiber.

 

Vincenzo Scalera has played at many major festivals including Edinburgh, Martina Franca, Jerusalem, Istanbul and Les Chorégies d’Orange, as well as the Carinthian Summer Music Festival, the Salzburg Festival and the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. He has accompanied many renowned singers such as 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 and has performed in all the world’s prominent musical centers.

 

 

Gioachino Rossini
"Deh, tu m’assisti amore", from Il Signor Bruschino
"La speranza più soave", from Semiramide

 

Gaetano Donizetti
"Una furtiva lagrima", from L’elisir d’amore
"Ed ancor la tremenda porta... Come uno spirito angelico... Bagnato il sen di lagrime", from Roberto Devereux

 

Vincenzo Bellini
"O di Capellio generosi amici... È serbato a questo acciaro... L’amor tanto e m’è sì cara", from I Capuleti e i Montecchi

 

 

Édouard Lalo
"Puisqu’on ne peut fléchir… Vainement, ma bien aimée", from Le roi d’Ys

 

Jules Massenet
"Ô souverain, ô juge, ô père", from Le Cid

 

Charles Gounod
"Quel trouble inconnu… Salut! Demeure chaste et pure", from Faust

 

Giuseppe Verdi
"Oh! Fede negar potessi... Quando le sere al placido... L’ara o l’avello", from Luisa Miller

 

Giacomo Puccini
"Che gelida manina", from La bohème

 

*All information on programme and duration is subject to change.