Juan Diego Florez - Biography

Juan Diego Florez was born in 1973 in Lima, Peru, where he first studied music, subsequently finishing his studies at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. In August 1996 he made his official debut in Matilde di Shabram at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro and was acclaimed as being an exciting new discovery. Since then, Florez has quickly developed a successful international career and is no longer considered a promising new-comer but one of the most important tenors in the world today.

Florez has enjoyed great success in theatres such as La Scala of Milan (Armide, Falstaff, Cappello di Paglia di Firenze, Barbiere di Siviglia, Nina Pazza per Amore, Sonnambula ), Comunale di Firenze (Le Comte Ory, Falstaff), Covent Garden in London (Elisabetta by Donizetti, Otello by Rossini, Cenerentola), Konzerthaus in Vienna (La Semiramide), Carlo Felice di Genoa (La Cenerentola, Le Comte Ory), Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (Matilde di Shabram, Il Signor Bruschino, Petite Messe Solennelle, La Cenerentola, Viaggio a Reims), Regio di Torino (La Sonnambula, Maria Stuarda) Accademy of Santa Cecilia in Rome (Stabat Mater of Rossini, Cantata of Rossini) La Maestranza of Seville (Alahor in Granata of Donizetti), Filarmonico of Verona (Italiana in Algeri), Staatsoper of Wien (Barbiere di Siviglia, Italiana in Algeri, Gianni Schicchi), Opera di Roma (Barbiere di Siviglia), San Francisco Symphony (Stabat Mater), Las Palmas (Italiana in Algeri) Musikverein of Wien (Stabat Mater) Bayerische Staatsoper (Italiana in Algeri) Gran Teatro del Liceo of Barcelona (Stabat Mater) Opera National of Paris (Italiana in Algeri) Bilbao (Barbiere di Siviglia).

He has sung under the batons of Riccardo Muti, Myung-Wun Chung, Neville Marriner, Riccardo Chailly, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Christophe Rousset, Carlo Rizzi, Claudio Scimone, Antonio Pappano, Alberto Zedda, Roberto Abbado, Ralf Weikert, Daniele Gatti; and will sing with John Eliot Gardiner and James Levine amongst others.

In April 2001 Juan Diego Florez signed an exclusive contract with the Decca Music Group and his debut recording of Rossini arias under Riccardo Chailly will be released in 2002.

Future engagements until 2005 include La Scala in Milan, Opera of Paris, Covent Garden in London, Staatsoper in Vienna, Chatelet in Paris, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Festival of Salzburg, Comunale of Bologna, Filarmonico of Verona, Japan, San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera House of New York.

During 2000 he received two important awards: the Abbiati Prize (by Italian Critics) and Rossini d'Oro in Pesaro.