Press Release

JUAN DIEGO FLÓREZ Sentimiento Latino PERUVIAN TENOR STAR SINGS LATIN SONGS STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART With Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the Fort Worth Symphony

From March 14,2006

NEW YORK, NY - On March 14th, Decca will release Sentimiento Latino recorded by Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez. Flórez sings from the heart on this new album of Latin American and Spanish popular songs. The thrilling voice of one of today's most exciting young opera stars is heard in a brilliant new light in the romantic ballads and popular songs of his homeland including Granada, Júrame and La Fleur de Canela. The lush orchestral arrangements of these works - some by Juan Diego Flórez himself - are performed by the Fort Worth Symphony under the baton of Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

For Juan Diego Flórez the songs on this album are much more than a light-hearted detour for a great opera star. In his view they have enriched and, to a great extent, molded his art. This recital of Spanish and Latin American songs is a kind of musical homecoming. Flórez grew up with this music. His father, Ruben Flórez had a fine career in Peru as an interpreter of popular songs. Following the elder Flórez's footsteps, the young Juan Diego eventually started to sing in his local bar where he was expected to know songs not just from Peru, but also from Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico and all over Latin America including songs heard on this disc. By the time he was fourteen, he was singing, playing guitar and composing his own canciones (it was not until he was seventeen that he began his study of classical music and opera).

Flórez brings a connoisseur's discernment to this program drawing parallels between the elaborate musical language of opera's bel canto and the stylistic niceties of ranchero music, blending them effortlessly and organically. In the past, Flórez explains, "the way popular music and opera were sung was more linked. Maybe pop musicians used more falsetto, but they had educated voices." This is not to say that he is precious or compromising with the popular elements of these songs. Rather, he embraces the gritty aspects of the ranchero style in the way he communicates. "You have to let your guts out," he notes. "Forget a bit about your voice, and mean what you're saying."

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JUAN DIEGO FLÓREZ
Sentimiento Latino

TRACKLIST

  1. Alma Llanera Pedro Elias Gutèirrez
  2. Ella Jose Alfredo Jimenez
  3. La Flor de la Canela 'Chabuca Granda' (Isabel Grada y Larca) arr Juan Diego Flórez
  4. El Dia que me quieras Carlos Gardel
  5. Granada Agustin Lara
  6. La Jarra de Oro Anon arr. Juan Diego Flórez
  7. Princesita Jose Sancho Padilla
  8. Júrame Maria Grever
  9. Estrellita Manuel Maria Ponce
  10. Fina Estampa 'Chabuca Granda' (Isabel Grada y Larca) arr. Juan Diego Flórez
  11. En mi Viejo san Juan Noel Estrada
  12. Siboney Ernesto Lecuona
  13. Aquellos ojos verdes Nilo Menendez
  14. Bello Durmiente 'Chabuca Granda' (Isabel Grada y Larca) arr. Juan Diego Flórez
  15. México Lindo y Querido Chuco Monge

Artists

JUAN DIEGO FLÓREZ
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
MIGUEL HARTH BEDOYA

Critical Acclaim for Juan Diego Flórez

"This extravagantly gifted tenor from Lima, Peru, seems to have it all: voice, looks, style, personality, musical refinement, and an appealing stage presence."
New York Times

"Merely beyond belief.both the artistry and the personal charisma to conquer millions."
The Wall Street Journal.

"Juan Diego Flórez, a Peruvian tenor, a very promising young singer, is proving that the Rossini tenor, a distinctively brilliant and heady style of singing, can have broader appeal beyond the cognoscenti who favor the bravura style."
Washington Post

"Flórez looks and sounds as young as romantic tenors are supposed to be but rarely are."
New York Daily News

"The Peruvian tenor Juan Diego is one of the world s most exciting singers."
Times (London)

"Juan Diego Flórez can already be counted among the world s finest singers."
The Gramophone

"The next legendary tenor"
WNYC Soundcheck

"Juan Diego Flórez is currently unrivalled in the early Romantic lyric tenor repertoire."
BarnesandNoble.com

"Juan Diego Flórez brings charm, finesse and good old- fashioned razzle- dazzle to a program of tenor favorites."
Opera News

"A sensational light lyric tenor, amazing vocal virtuosity and a charismatic stage presence."
Chicago Tribune