Juan Diego Flórez's reputation as the world's pre-eminent Rossini tenor has been established now for the best part of a decade. As with all tenors, it seems, the Peruvian star has been expanding his repertoire to include some slightly heavier roles, although they're all still well within the realms of bel canto. This concert, planned no doubt to coincide with the release of his latest disc, Bel Canto Spectacular, featured arias by Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini. The vocal items were interspersed with overtures by those three composers dispatched with verve, if not always ideal refinement, by the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera under Carlo Rizzi.
As with Roberto Alagna's Verdi concert early in May, the singer's supporters were out in force, affording him warm applause even before he'd sung a note. Suffering from phlegm in the second half, the tenor was relaxed and jokey in front of the partisan crowd, who showed patience and understanding. If the final programmed number, 'Amici miei, che allegro giorno!' from La fille du régiment (or, more accurately, La figlia del reggimento), wasn't quite the show-stopper it might have been, Flórez seemed to suffer less in his encore, the Count's final cabaletta from Il barbiere di Seviglia ('Ah il più lieto'), which was delivered with all the fearless command of fioritura and effortless top that have been his trademarks.
In fact, although his Bellini and Donizetti were extremely fine, it was in the Rossini items that Flórez still seemed at his best. After Norma's Overture, the tenor didn't seem ideally relaxed in 'A te o cara' from I Puritani, for example. His delivery was hampered by a mannered use of portamento which often undermined his legato line and the voice itself wanted for colour and depth. It's still difficult to think of many other tenors on the circuit that would come close in this difficult aria, but I couldn't help wishing for a more full-blooded sound in this aria.
The first half's other two arias, both by Rossini, were a different matter altogether. Each was preceded by one of the composer's overtures, first Semiramide and then the glorious, if spoilt, Guillaume Tell. As featured on his Arias for Rubini disc, Flórez first sang Phillip Gossett's reconstruction of 'Tu sorda ai miei lamenti', Uberto's Act Two aria from La donna del lago, as Rossini reworked it for Rubini to perform in 1825. Flòrez was impassioned in the recitative, embellished with tasteful ornamentation, and sang the tortuously difficult cabaletta with simply peerless virtuosity.
Interestingly, though, his tone in Arnold's 'Asile héréditaire' from Guillaume Tell, the final item of the first half, was fuller than it had been in the earlier Bellini. Although the tenor's French is far from idiomatic – and one did also wonder why this aria was here performed in French, while he chose to perform the aria from La fille du régiment in Italian – this was an exquisite performance of one of Rossini's most passionately lyrical arias. It also showed that when Flórez is relaxed in repertoire so obviously close to his heart, the voice seems to grow a size or two, filling out to hint that the move into slightly heavier roles is inevitable.
The two Rossini arias in the first half of the concert would, I suspect, have remained the highlight of the concert, even if Flórez hadn't run into difficulty in the second half. In 'Partir degg'io… T'amo qual s'ama un angelo' from Lucrezia Borgia, the tenor seemed less engaged, as he had at the beginning of the concert. Even before he started to feel the effects of the frog in his throat about halfway through the number, he had lost some of the relaxed stage manner that had made his Rossini such a joy to watch, and the bloom that had beefed out 'Asile héréditaire' eluded him. There was inevitable disappointment when, midway through this aria, Flórez tightened up and started to cough between phrases. If anything, though, it served to remind the audience of quite what an astonishing talent the singer is, as nature intervened to bring him down to a level closer to that of other performers in this repertoire. With consummate professionalism he still turned in performances of 'Ange si pur' from La favorite and 'Amici miei' that were world class. However, intonation in the middle of the range was affected and he had to gather himself together more than usual before launching himself towards the top notes, most of which he still managed to hit with pin-point accuracy. His problems, and the extended pauses between the numbers, also unsettled the orchestra, and some untidiness crept into their playing.
All things considered, this was an immensely impressive concert. Flórez is just the kind of ambassador the bel canto repertoire needs to reach an even bigger audience and his two appearances at Covent Garden next season, in Rossini, are likely to be highlights.
By Hugo Shirley
Recent reviews of Juan Diego Florez's recordings:
Bel Canto Spectacular
Arias for Rubini