Juan Diego Flórez, tenor: “The opera singer is no longer a diva, he has become more accessible” | Culture

Juan Diego Flórez (Lima, 51 years old) walks through the bowels of the Teatro Real in Madrid, a bottle of water in his hand, as if it were his home. He tries to say little. He no longer lives the hectic schedule of the times that made him seem like a rock star, when Pavarotti named him his successor and the most renowned critics kept calling him “the fourth tenor.” And although he no longer takes planes as if they were buses to sing around the world, his life remains just as busy. He combines his career as a singer —more focused on Europe and with fewer operas—, which he considers a hobby, with family time and the direction of his most personal project: Symphony for Perua social work that rescues, through music, children and young people from marginalized areas of Peru. “The diamond point” of the project, as the tenor himself calls it, is the Youth Orchestra, with whom he is now on a tour that, after passing through Madrid and Barcelona, ​​will go to Vienna, Geneva and Paris. And with whom he has recorded the first album of the new label he has created, Flórez Records (to clear up any doubts about who the creator is), dedicated to Zarzuela and which premiered last week. The tenor, although close to them, cannot get rid of that aura of star that embraces him, mainly in the presence of young musicians from a country that idolizes him. “I tell them that they should have less respect for me, I am just another musician, like them,” he says, accustomed to taking care of his voice, with a calm and low tone, at the end of his rehearsal in the Madrid coliseum.

Ask. A European tour begins in Spain where he shares the spotlight with the Youth Orchestra Sinfonía por el Perú, a very personal project that, in addition to being musical, is, above all, social, right?

Answer. A social project that uses music as a tool. They are children and young people who come from difficult environments in Peru where they receive little support and feel abandoned. Music rescues them, makes them feel important, they do not give up and want to keep going. Here, music changes their lives. It is a tool for change. They stop being children abandoned by society and become empowered children who believe in themselves. They learn what merit means, teamwork, punctuality, discipline. Everything that comes with playing music. An orchestra is a mini society.

P. And in the end, good musicians also emerge.

R. Of course. The Youth Orchestra, which is the diamond in the sky, with the most outstanding students of Sinfonía por Perú, is today a pride for the country. Here it is about playing well, playing an important repertoire. The youth choirs have just won first prize in the Summa Cum Laude in Austria, a very important competition. Making music at a high level is also the recipe for them to feel empowered. They are kids with many dreams.

P. He has also recorded a Zarzuela album with them.

R. Many things are happening these days. We are starting the tour in Spain and the Zarzuela album we recorded is coming out at the same time. It is an album dedicated to the Spanish lyrical genre, with Sinfonía por el Perú. Everything is going very well and I am very proud because the kids have absorbed the values ​​of the project and we have been able to improve their lives.

P. You tell them when they rehearse that they should have less respect for you. Is it difficult to get away from being a diva?

RThe singer, who was adored by the public, had to be so on and off the stage. There are some writings from the 19th century which speak of an opera singer who was once seen in the street dressed not so well and making more normal gestures. And people did not like it. They wanted him to remain divine, not an earthly person. That was the case until recently and there are still some divas. But a lot has been lost and the opera singer has become more accessible. I like that, because I do not believe that one should assume a role off the stage as well. I like that opera is becoming more accessible. I see that theatres are making policies to bring young people closer and I like that a lot.

P. You came to opera at a very young age. How much has changed since then?

R. I thought I would never sing an opera like that Werther (Massaenet) Never! Now I sing it everywhere. Over the years, the voice darkens and changes. It’s like that. And things that used to come out one way don’t come out that way anymore. And when you’ve sung an opera the same way all your life and suddenly it doesn’t come out the same way anymore, you feel lost. And you have to find new ways to sing. You have to survive. The important thing is that the voice is always fresh and gives you the opportunity to continue singing.

P. Does that open up new opportunities, new repertoires?

R. Yes. It’s nice that a theater no longer calls you just for a bel cantobut invite you to sing The Bohemianfor example. And it’s nice for the singer because you get into different universes, where you can express yourself in a different way, where the music is different. There are singers that I didn’t see before, because you hung out with the little group of bel canto and you always saw yourself with them. Now you get together with the little group of Puccini or Verdi. It’s another stain, as we say in Peru. New friends that you wouldn’t find in a repertoire bel canto.

P. More or less bel cantohis voice remains unmistakable.

R. The voice is the most important thing. That the voice is in perfect health and that whoever listens to it says ‘ah, yes, it’s Juan Diego Flórez. With something here or there, but it’s always him’. That shouldn’t change. Because I love my career, singing has always been a hobby for me. And a fresh voice is what takes you to many years of singing. I would love to reach, like Alfredo Kraus, with a fresh and immaculate voice until I’m seventy-something years old.