La Fille du Regiment at Royal Opera House

Channel 4 news report on the new production of La Fille du Regiment at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.
Includes short clips and interview with Juan Diego Flórez, the lead tenor.

[@muscleboi4use]

This has returned to London with Juan Diego and Natalie and I can confirm they are both BRILLIANT! Just super! Magnificent!

[@PERVLA]

I always proud to be Peruvian and now more than ever,knowing that Juan Diego Flores is from my Beautiful country Peru....Bravoooooo Juan Diego ...Bellisimo...

[@danluiv]

i went to a presentation of Juan Diego Flores in Italy in the Opera House."figaro" and I've never seen a young man tenore who sing like that, with passion and a range of notes very high... at the end of the opera musical, the people were could not believe that a peruvian tenor could make a magnific presentation. I testified all of them were very satisfied. Juan Diego Flores is the Best!

[@Meny20]

He is the pride of muy country! Bravo Juan Diego! You make us peruvians proud!

[@justabrit]

Danluiv..I envy you to hear Juan sing...That voice is sooo good...I want to hear him too.. he is coming to London next year....I WANT A TICKET!!!!

[@greaterben]

he is surely phenomenal!

[@livius]

The best: the commetary from the newsreader at the end! Juan Diego is really the best at this role.

[@MARLENITA4]

have you listened the opinions in this video?"now the best tenor that exist in the world" , "one of the best singers but plus he is cute",etc,,i am so proud of him

[@tehen162]

Cont. The Evening Standard 17 September 2004. reports that in 2004 there was a celebration at Waldorf Astoria for Pavarotti. It was to be an evening for great singers but when Pavarotti was asked who he wanted to sing with he said: "Just Juan Diego, no one else."

[@ivansperanza]

Me too,a thousand times over.

[@spgtenor]

Pavarotti was a gifted and giving man, he did many charities and always seemed sincere, so I can't imagine that he would use the word "successor" as if he was ruling an empire. Many others, including myself for a while, considered him to be King of all tenors, but he struck me as too humble to think that. Cheers.

[@racingrubberbiker]

I have see Florez since 2002 at Covent Garden, and can attest that he always gets a great ovation from the cognoscienti. He can also act better that Pavarotti. He is a true bel canto singer in the mould of Pinza and Kraus. I think he would be good in Werther too, but this can wait for later.

[@dieterflorian865]

Timothy Sole hallo, now it's Happen in Bologna/Italien and Zürich/Swiss, he was great

[@ballyhigh11]

@muscleboi4use Agreed. His 'Pour mon ame' was sensational and worth turning up at the theatre just for that. However Dessay was absolutely superb too and in no way overshadowed. Her comedic acting was exceptional. I had decided before the end of the first act that I'd be queuing up for day tickets (it's naturally sold out) to see this production again this week :)

[@josephcold]

He is in good voice in this clip.

[@tehen162]

You can read this in an interview with Pavarotti in El Pais Semental, 5 October 2003. It was the first time Pavarotti said this, but later on more other occasions. The interview can be read on jcarreras.homstead (.com) among "Articles". The Independent 27 November 2004 cites Pavarotti saying on Florez: "At last! here's a man who can sing!"

[@classyteacherdiva]

I hope I have the honor and the pleasure of seeing him in a recital one day. If anyone knows of his concert schedule please let me know right away! Mr. Diego, if you are reading this please contact me; I would love to see you in person.

[@ForceField9]

Florez is the next Opera superstar

[@Aiyoukim]

He's right.

[@Angelvive]

Aceptenlo!! Juan diego is the best!!! And is peruvian!!!

[@norika21]

Peru got talent folks!!!

[@sirena583]

"And you're advised not to try that at home." Haha. Exactly. Leave it to JDF to dazzle you with those beautiful ending notes. :)

[@Fila007]

best singer..but.. plus~ his CUTE!! and I was lyk~ Hell YEAh!

[@tenorandrewowens]

Also, the fact that he never sang those roles that you mentioned had nothing to do with his voice, but because of personal decisions. He would have also been fantastic in the French lyric rep, as Faust and Romeo, but never bothered learning it.

[@phool]

Of course you cannot compare them, they are different types of tenors. Apples and oranges, my friend. They're both wonderful, regardless.

[@MARLENITA4]

ese comentario fue una gentil apreciación de pavarotti,ni lo dijo florez,ni lo dijeron los peruanos,,,,sabrá dios por qué lo dijo pavarotti,pero a donde va florez deja encantado a su público y no dejan de llegarle los comentarios positivos,,,

[@racingrubberbiker]

chacun a son gout

[@lauritahh]

Dessay is right, Juan Diego is not only great great singer , He is too very very cute :)

[@Nater389]

Agreed. Has no where near the power and feeling.

[@jmarqueslr]

I fully agree with joanmanuel, that tie is horrible indeed. But sometimes we have to bear even worse spiritual pains to be able to listen to miraculous voices like Juan Diego's. Maybe the golden years of Gigli and Schipa will have after all some echo in our time so deprived of "tenores di grazia" and simply brilliant voices like those two late stars.

[@spgtenor]

Please post a video of Pavarotti saying that if you can. It's sounds very suspicious since Pavarotti was a lyrico spinto tenor made famous by his representation of Puccini roles and Florez is a tenorino who sings Rossini and some Donizetti.

[@tenorandrewowens]

very true, but imagine Pav circa 1972 or so singing them, much more palatable :)

[@spgtenor]

It's true Pav milked the aria and did a lot of stadium singing, but I still prefer him over Corelli in both of those roles. Corelli would be my 2nd favorite Calaf, but I've never seen either live in the theater (the way opera was meant to be) so maybe I would have preferred Corelli.

[@MARLENITA4]

spgtnor,,control your envy,,,you have months with the same argument,,,,

[@tenorandrewowens]

Pavarotti ventured the heavy repertoire against the advice of his management, friends, and colleagues. He started out singing things like Sonnambula, Fille, and the bel canto fare. And please do not use the word 'spinto' and Pavarotti in the same sentence ever again.

[@luchodeza]

But who said that ??? who said this is MY SUCCESSOR ?? ...Lucciano Pavarotti .....in person. Oh yeah.

[@MARLENITA4]

he is going to get married with a german young woman in lima ,,,so a cute,but married man ,,,viva dieguitoooooooooooooooo

[@littlemo130]

Now don't get me wrong, JDF has an amazing voice and great stage presence....but Pav's successor??? I wouldn't go THAT far.....

[@spgtenor]

I think it was both personal and he realized his voice would not be best suited for some of those roles. His Decca recording of the Faust aria is gorgeous, but I can't imagine him in Romeo, not on stage at least. Something about a bearded 400 pound man just doesn't capture the essence of the character!

[@tenorandrewowens]

well, not to be confrontational, but there have been many better performers of the roles you mentioned. Cavaradossi - Corelli, Tucker, Gigli, even Domingo. As for Calaf, the role is practically synonymous with Corelli. Just because Pav whored the aria out at the World Cup doesn't make him a great Calaf.

[@upatoia]

If you like JUAN DIEGO FLOREZ check THE 30 TENORS in my playlist SUPER TENOR ARIAS ( including CLAUDIO SOTELO performing ARIA DEL CIRUJANO as a world première for YOU TUBE ) and tell me which one you prefer.

[@spgtenor]

Pavarotti was born with a great voice, but he was not a great artist. He was not well respected by his peers for many reasons, so I wouldn't take much stock in what he says. He even admitted publicly how lazy he was as an artist. I still love his recordings anyway.

[@bodiloto]

Pavarotti era un dio in questo repertorio ! Florez e il piu grande tenore fra le zanzare . Florz parla di se stesso che há una bella voce di belcanto,parla di chiaro -scuro, há, scuro ? qualquno puo spiegarmi per favore ma come una zanzara puo cantare scuro ?

[@tenorandrewowens]

of which "standards" do you speak?? You do realize that a voice like his was the style of this era. The "man's" voice came about by accident and was strongly disliked by practically every composer.

[@luchodeza]

Tu pais debe ser perfecto me imagino, tan perfecto que no dices cual. No importa, no puede producir un JDF, nosotros si, que sigan tus lloriqueos nomas.

[@phantom4087]

But, then again, who wants to play Don Ottavio LOL.

[@Valkyrie91a]

HA HA HA, Pav as Joey and Friends. Yes, he is hardly recognizable.

[@spgtenor]

Most singers start with lighter rep regardless, but Pavarotti's voice was never right for bel canto. A dark and heavy middle voice, covered E and F (typical for dramatic tenors)and difficulty with his mezza voce in the passagio (listen to Gedda for a great mezza voce). That is why you will never hear him do Don Ottavio, Ferrando, Tamino, Ernesto, Nadir, Etc... all done by other Lyric tenors like Gedda or Kraus. And who can think of a better Calaf or Cavaradossi than the Pav?

[@tenorandrewowens]

REALLY?? As Edgardo, Werther, sure, but not in THIS role...

[@spgtenor]

That's true, but what does Pavarotti mean by his successor? Was he the only tenor to exist over the past 40 years? If Pavarotti really phrased it that way, then I have lost any respect I had for him for being so arrogant. It must be interpreted that people like Kraus, Gedda , Domingo, to name just a few, didn't contribute anything to the world of opera.

[@italianoperafan]

I full agree this with: this is too mechanical, the pronunciation so so (too concentrated on reaching the notes than on the partition) and truly not my cup of tea. Donizetti is not a game nore a contest of high notes.... Pavarotti perhaps; but I should mention Rockwell Blacke in this part. As for Mr. Florez, I certainly do not deny his capacities but they are not used properly as his first approach with Verdi can show.

[@ivansperanza]

He's ok....far from being the best,though.He never tried a high F while singing L'Italiana in Alghieri.

[@theonlygriffo]

Decent..but no Pavarotti!! His voice is too light and feminine, Pavarotti sings the C's with much greater finesse and importantly with a more heroic and masculine tone.