Tenor Juan Diego Flórez Performs at Carnegie Hall

• 

Details

Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Tuesday, 24 February 2026 15:00

Written by Jack Angstreich

Photo by Jennifer Taylor

At the wonderful Stern Auditorium, on the night of Thursday, February 5th, I had the privilege to attend a splendid recital—presented by Carnegie Hall—featuring the superb Peruvian tenor, Juan Diego Flórez—he is one of the most appealing figures in the world of contemporary opera—along with pianist Vincenzo Calera. 

The first half of the event focused on the bel canto repertory that is the singer’s specialty, opening with Gioachino Rossini’s “Le sylvain,” the ninth song from the third volume of his late collection—which he began composing in 1857–Péchés de vieillesse. There then followed four selections by Vincenzo Bellini, including three songs from his 1829 set, Sei Ariette, beginning with, first, “Malinconia, ninfa gentile,” which is from a text by the distinguished pre-Romantic poet, Ippolito Pindemonte, and second, “Vanne, o rosa fortunata,” set to verse by the 18th-century librettist, Pietro Metastasio. This preceded the 1834 song, “La ricordanza,” which later became famous when transformed into the aria “Qui la voce” from I puritani. Scalera then beautifully played a keyboard arrangement by Carl Czerny of “Almen se non poss’io” from the Sei Ariette. Flórez concluded the first half of the program with two selections by Gaetano Donizetti, beginning with another Metastasio setting, “Ah, rammenta, o bella Irene,” and ending with the recitative and aria from the opera Roberto Devereux: “Ed ancor la tremenda porta … Come uno spirito angelico.”

Despite the singer’s close association with the style of music of the first half of the evening, the second part was unexpectedly (and unaccountably) much stronger in effect, starting with three selections from Spanish zarzuelas. The first was “Bella amorada” composed by Reveriano Soutullo and Juan Vert from their 1928 El último romántico. Also excellent were two arias from the zarzuela type known as género chico: “Suena, guitarrico mío” from Agustín Pérez Soriano’s 1900 El guitarrico and “Aquí está quien lo tiene tó y no tiene ná” from José Serrano’s 1909 La alegría del batallón. Scalera then concluded this section by playing Mazurka glissando by the celebrated Cuban zarzuela composer, Ernesto Lecuona.

Also exquisite were two selections from the French Romantic repertory, beginning with “Ô Souverain, ô juge, ô père,” from Act III of Jules Massenet’s lesser-known, 1885 opera, Le Cid, based on the play by Pierre Corneille and succeeded by “Salut! demeure chaste et pure” from Charles Gounod’s enduring 1859 opera, Faust. Scalera closed this portion of the program by playing the Berceuse, here arranged for piano, from Benjamin Godard’s Jocelyn of 1887. The tenor ended the program proper thrillingly with “Che gelida manina” from Giacomo Puccini’s marvelous La bohème of 1896. 

After a standing ovation, the tenor returned to perform an incredible series of encores, starting with Eduardo di Capua’s "I' te vurria vasà" and followed by a medley of songs with Spanish lyrics for which Flórez accompanied himself on the guitar, including "Bella enamorada,” “La flor de la canela, and “Fina estampa.” More familiar was the delightful 1954 song by Tomás Méndez, "Cucurrucucú paloma." He then sang "Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fête! ... Pour mon âme" from Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment, which is the aria that brought him stardom. After delivering "Be My Love" by Nicholas Brodszky which Mario Lanza sang in the1950 movie, Toast of New Orleans, he finished gloriously with the unforgettable "Una furtiva lagrima" from Donizetti’s L'elisir d'amore.