Juan Diego Flórez

Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez made his Royal Opera debut in 1997 as Count Stanislao Potoski (Elisabetta). He has since returned regularly to The Royal Opera, in roles including Tonio (La Fille du régiment), Uberto (La donna del lago), Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Corradino (Matilde de Shabran), Ernesto (Don Pasquale), Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Elvino (La sonnambula), Orphée (Orphée et Eurydice), Hoffmann (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) and the title role of Werther.

Flórez was born and grew up in Lima, and in his childhood performed in piano bars. He studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Lima, subsequently won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and made his professional debut at the Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro, in 1996, stepping in at the last minute to sing Corradino. He made his debut at La Scala, Milan, in the same year, and has since performed principal roles in all of the major opera houses, gaining particular renown for his performances in bel canto repertory. Since 2015 he has also explored the Romantic repertory, singing roles including Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto), Alfredo Germont (La traviata), Roméo (Roméo et Juliette), Raoul (Les Huguenots), Chevalier Des Grieux (Manon) and Rodolfo (La bohème). 

Flórez has recorded several albums for Decca and now records for Sony Classical, with which label he has mostly recently released a disc of Mozart arias and a disc of South American songs. His many awards include the Gran Cruz de la Orden el Sol del Perú, honorary citizenship of Pesaro and the Premio Abbiati. In 2012 he was appointed a Kammersänger by the Austrian government and a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. Selected concert appearances include the 2016 Last Night of the BBC Proms and 2016 Concert de Paris, a unique fundraising concert for Sinfonía per el Perú at the Teatro Real, Madrid (also 2016) and a benefit concert at Lima’s Estadio Nacional to help victims of flooding and landslides in Peru (2017).  Flórez sings for opera companies worldwide including Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Vienna State Opera, Metropolitan Opera, New York, and Paris Opéra.