Juan Diego Flórez Sports Car Is Tradition Selling Italian Songs

Is that a Fiat or a Ferrari? Juan Diego Flórez sells it either way 
on the cover of his latest album.

The new release for Juan Diego Flórez, Italia, features the tenor leaning on a convertible sports car as the cover art. It's not the first time the classical music industry has used this idea in promotion. Giuseppe Di Stefano and Franco Corelli released albums of Neapolitan songs with them prominently enjoying the comforts of luxury automobiles. This concept wasn't limited to male singers. See what soprano happily sprawled across the car hood for one of her Decca recordings, as well as the cover art for the tenors mentioned above, after the jump. 

World's Best Tenors Captured On Film By Johannes Ifkovits

High C: The cover and back inlay for the book World's Best Tenors captures the artists 
singing the infamous note. (Photo: Johannes Ifkovit)

Opera Rifko Verlag, the publisher that designed the book Die Oper Kocht featuring opera singers in the kitchen cooking, releases a new book dedicated to the greatest kings of the high-C's living today: Die weltbesten Tenöre (World's Best Tenors). The duo team of photographer Johannes Ifkovits and stylist Evelyn Rillé created an essay that highlights 44 opera tenors from around the globe that had time or willingness to participate in the project. The Festival Castell de Peralada featured an exhibition of the book with large images surrounding the grounds of Palau Robert in Barcelona, Spain. Inside the book, portraits of legendary tenors like Plácido Domingo, Vladimir Atlantov, René Kollo stand alongside their hot young counterparts like Pavol Breslik, Giuseppe Filianoti, and Michael Fabiano. The book will soon be available for pre-order here. More photos after the jump. 

(Click to enlarge image)

Strumming His Guitar: Juan Diego Flórez captured by photographer Johannes Ifkovits

Rubber Ducky You're The One: Funny guy Rolando Villazón relaxes in the tub for his portrait by Johannes Ifkovits

Netrebko, Florez, El-khoury To Sing At Lebanon's Beiteddine Festival

The Venue: Beiteddine Palace lies 45 km southeast of Beirut and is situated
 900 meters above sea level. Click to enlarge the panoramic photo.

"For the first time in the Arab World, the prodigiously gifted soprano Anna Netrebko will perform at Beiteddine Art Festival in Lebanon, an event scheduled to take place between 27 July and 5 September. Considered one of the biggest international stars, Netrebko has appeared in all the world’s great opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, London’s Royal Opera House, La Scala, Vienna State Opera, Paris Opera, Berlin State Opera, and the Mariinsky Theatre. Netrebko will be one of the few notable international and regional artists to take a stage the Beiteddine palace, on the outskirts of Beirut, in what is considered an anniversary (30th) edition of the annual festival. Other musicians include tenor Juan Diego Florez, Lebanese composer, singer and songwriter Marcel Khalife, singers Kadim Al-Sahir and Reham Abdelhakim among others. The festival will open on 27 July with the Bel Canto tenor Juan Diego Florez and guest soprano Joyce El-Khoury, accompanied by the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini Orchestra, under the baton of Christopher Franklin. Internationally acclaimed Lebanese musician Marcel Khalifé and Al-Mayadine Ensemble will take to the stage on 5 August, reviving his most famous songs, such as Rita wal Boundoukiyya, Oummi. Khalife's works have been critically acclaimed both in the Arab region and the world over. On 8 August, the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Chamber Choir of Armenia and the Hover Chamber will be conducted by Eduard Topchjan and the programme will feature well known classical music works. Soprano Anna Netrebko with guest tenor Yusif Eyvazov will perform towards the festival's end, on 27 August. A number of

Beiteddine Palace is a masterpiece of the early 19th century Lebanese 
architecture built by Emir Bechir Chehab II around a small 
Muslim-Druze hermitage. Click to enlarge.

other well known musicians will be featured in the anniversary year of the festival, including Rebecca Ferguson who will perform the greatest hits of legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday, and David Gray who has established himself as one of the UK’s leading rock artists. Launched in 1985, the Beiteddine Art Festival 'came as an act of faith in Lebanon’s cultural role and power of creativity, a call for normality amidst the chaos and madness of war. It was born and has grown in very difficult times and made it against all odds,' we read on the festival's website. 'As of 1987, when Nora Joumblat and an Executive Committee took over the organisation of the Festival, it gradually gained regional and international recognition' and throughout the years it hosted hundreds of important international artists and spanning across music, performing and visual arts. All events take place within the 200-year old Palace in the Chouf mountains, considered to be a jewel of Lebanese architecture." [Source]

Life Ball Stars: Opolais, Netrebko, Eyvazov, Beczala, Flórez, Quasthoff, Pape

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

 

More photos after the jump of Anna Netrebko, Juan Diego Flórez, Kristīne Opolais, Piotr Beczała, René Pape, Thomas Quasthoff, and Yusif Eyvazov.

Juan Diego Flórez Raises Over $100K For Peru At Vienna Concert

Vittorio Grigolo and Aida Garifullina join Juan Diego Flórez for a worthy cause in Vienna.

"The audience filled the Vienna State Opera and applauded tenor Juan Diego Florez enthusiastically and often during a benefit concert he gave on behalf of 'Sinfonia por el Peru,' the foundation he created in 2011 to help poor children in his homeland. Sources at the Viennese theater told Efe that the box office would easily surpass 100,000 euros ($106,000), from which only technical costs would have to be deducted, since all the artists donated their services. 'It's a dream come true that we can now say Sinfonia por el Peru is going so well it's changing the lives of many, many children in Peru,' Florez told Efe during one of the rehearsals before the gala performance. The tenor noted that big international opera stars would share the stage with young musicians from different social programs around the world, all motivated by the concept of transforming society through music. The gala served to present the Friends of Juan Diego Florez, an association created to support Sinfonia por el Peru and similar projects. Among those friends were Cecilia Bartoli, Russian soprano Aida Garifullina, tenor Celso Albelo and baritone Michele Pertusi, among others. Unfortunately absent was soprano Anna Netrebko, who announced Saturday that she would be unable to take part in the gala. Sinfonia por el Peru's 15 branches in different parts of the country are teaching some 2,500 children and young people living in unfavorable conditions to use music as a way to escape poverty, violence and child labor." [Source]

Tenors Anyone? Opera Singers That Love The Game Of Tennis

Love All: Grigolo (left) and Flórez go head-to-head on the court during some time off from the MET.

Tenors Juan Diego Flórez and Vittorio Grigolo took a break from their current performing schedule at the Metropolitan Opera to hit the courts for a friendly game of tennis. Mr. Flórez, a Rossini specialist who starred in the MET's first performances of the composer's La Donna del Lago, posted the image of the two men on his Facebook page. This isn't the first time that the worlds of tennis and opera have come together. Two instances are here and here. And tenor Lawrence Brownlee has proclaimed his enthusiasm for tennis; soprano Amelia Farrugia keeps stamina up for the stage by playing tennis in downtime; baritone Michael Chioldi has been known to pick up the racket to stay in shape;  soprano Julianna Di Giacomo grew up playing tennis; tenor Enrico Caruso didn't fair so well lasting through one set; soprano Kiri Te Kanawa keeps busy with a myriad of sports that includes tennis; bass-baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes built his physique on the game of tennis; soprano Mary Garden had advice for her friend and tennis player Bill Tilden; and tenor Ivan Kozlovsky kept his health up with the sport. It's not the only sport that cross-pollinates opera with athletics, click here for more. See more photos of opera singers with tennis champions after the jump.

Tennis champions Rafael Nadal (left) and David Ferrer on the stage of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain.

Silvesterkonzert Selfie: A Gipsy Princess And Her Men

(Photo: Facebook)

Anna Netrebko with tenor Juan Diego Flórez (right) and Maestro Christian Thielemann (left) after the Silvesterkonzert performance of Kálmán's Die Csárdásfürstin at the Staatskapelle Dresden. Watch the performance after the jump.

Austria's "Life Ball" To Host A Galaxy Of (Opera) Stars Tonight

Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczała perform at last year's gala concert for Life Ball.

"Tickets for the Red Ribbon Celebration Concert 2014 presented by Novomatic available on www.burgtheater.at or www.culturall.com! Stars of the opera like Anna Netrebko, Vesselina Kasarova, Jennifer O'Loughlin, Juan Diego Flórez, Piotr Beczała, Yusif Eyvazov, Luca Pisaroni, Ambrogio Maestri and Ildar Abdrazakov lend their voices to the good cause. The soloists are accompanied by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Cornelius Meister. Fashion icon Vivienne Westwood will create the stage design of the concert. Red Ribbon Celebration Concert 2014 - May 30, 2014, concert beginning: 8 p.m. at Burgtheater, Universitätsring 2, 1010 Vienna." More information about the star power attending the event, as well as photos from this year's theme Garten der Lüste [including the NSFW David LaChapelle posters....], after the jump.

L'amour, l'amour, toujours l'amour: Juan Diego Flórez Release

"Marking a departure for the Peruvian bel canto superstar, this new recording offers a personal survey of the French operatic repertoire from Donizetti to the romantic outpourings of Gounod and Massenet, including Massenet’s ‘Pourquoi me Reveiller’ from Werther. This is a disc that not only plays to Flórez’s strengths – virtuosic and high-lying – but also shows a new side to the popular singer, featuring repertoire which he has rarely sung on stage. The first solo album in four years by one of the classical world’s biggest stars reveals a voice which has become richer, rounder and more mellow; the choice of repertoire draws further new colours from this ever-stylish tenor. [Source] Due out in March 2014, the complete track list is after the jump.

Juan Diego Flórez Delivers Baby and Then Sings Live in HD

Juan Diego with wife Julia at their wedding

"Tenor Juan Diego Florez has really delivered: a host of high Cs to a worldwide audience of millions -- and minutes earlier, his own baby boy in New York City. Florez helped two midwives in the birth of his son, Leandro Florez, at 12:25 p.m. Saturday. The tenor had stayed up all night with his wife, Julia, after she went into labor at their rented apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. While the couple awaited the birth of their first child, the world waited for the 38-year-old Peruvian to sing the tenor lead in Rossini's comic opera Le Comte Ory at the nearby Metropolitan Opera -- starting at 1 p.m. The baby got the cue: He bawled first. He came into the world in time for his daddy to hold him for a minute before rushing to the Met. 'It was beautiful,' Florez said later in an interview during the broadcast. 'It was a home birth with a pool, in the water, it was very nice and very calm.'" [Source]

"Le Comte Ory" Sneak Preview Videos From the MET

Watch Juan Diego Flórez, Joyce DiDonato and Diana Damrau in videos taken from the dress rehearsal of Rossini's Le Comte Ory that opens this Thursday, March 24 at 8PM EST at the Metropolitan Opera. Videos excerpts include Act I Duet, Act III Trio and more! Click here to view.

Renée Fleming Schmoozes Daniel Radcliffe & Juan Diego Flórez

Opera meets Broadway (Photo: Joseph Marzullo/WENN)

The opera soprano did double-duty on Saturday (March 19). First she hosted the Metropolitan Opera's "Live in HD" series broadcast of Lucia di Lammermoor during the afternoon. One of the highlights during the second intermission was when Fleming was joined by renowned Rossini-specialist Juan Diego Flórez. The tenor appeared in a tight leather jacket and talked about how sexy his upcoming production of Le Comte Ory is going to be, so sexy in fact that at one point Renée started singing "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life." That evening she attended the Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. After the performance she joined Katie Couric and Charles Robbins to visit with the star of the show Daniel Radcliffe. I suspect the backstage event may have been more for the benefit of Fleming and Couric's young teen daughters who also attended. More pictures after the jump. [Source]

Juan Diego Flórez NOT Singing in Machu Picchu

The world acclaimed Peruvian tenor, Juan Diego Flórez, will not sing in April in Machu Picchu, said his manager, Ernesto Palacio, to El Comercio. “During my last stay in Lima, I read about a presentation Flórez was going to make in Machu Picchu; that is a mistake because we never agreed that Juan Diego would sing there,” said Palacio. The Peruvian tenor has also agreed to offer a recital with young musicians that are members of the Peru’s Juvenile and Children Orchestras, a project Flórez promotes. [Source]

Juan Diego Flórez Goes Public

(Photo: Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times)

Check your local PBS listings this Wednesday, December 29, for a "Great Performances" concert of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and music director Gustavo Dudamel, recorded earlier at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The concert features Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez performing pieces by Rossini as well as a number of pieces by prominent Latin American composers. TV viewers will also hear Flórez perform two encores: “Ah! Mes Amis” from Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment and “La Donna è Mobile” from Verdi’s Rigoletto. Actress Eva Mendes is the host for the evening.