Juan Diego Flórez volta a brilhar

O Tenor Juan Diego Flórez famosissímo nas suas interpretações em óperas de Rossini, Bellini e Donizetti, faz agora o um "semi-crossover" com o seu novo trabalho de nome "Sentimiento Latino".
Estou curioso com esta nova abordagem se bem que deteste "crossovers".
Trancrevo a critica de IRA SIFF, publicada na Opera News em Maio passado.

Tenor Juan Diego Flórez, known primarily for his prodigious gift with florid music, takes a semi-crossover turn here, singing early- to mid-twentieth-century songs by Latin American and Spanish composers. The material lends itself perfectly to the operatic voice, and Flórez, with his sunny tone and bravado high notes, clearly has a great time putting it across.

The disc opens with an exciting arrangement of Pedro Elías Gutiérrez’s “Alma llanera” from a 1914 zarzuela. Flórez, very much a tenor, crowns it with a terrific high C. A contrast in mood follows immediately, with a wonderful melancholy waltz, “Ella,” by Mexican composer José Alfredo Jiménez. María Isabel Granda Larco, a prominent Peruvian singer/songwriter who was known as “Chabuca Granda,” is represented with three songs, all arranged by Flórez, who grew up admiring her work. The evocative “La flor de la canela” and “Bello durmiente” are both lovely. “Fina estampa” is accompanied only by guitar (David Gálvez) and bongos (Flórez) and offers a pleasant contrast to the arrangements and orchestrations (mostly by Ángel “Cucco” Peña) on the rest of the disc, which are marvelous — rhythmically contagious, with wonderful trumpet and string licks.

One can never have too many recordings of Agustín Lara’s “Granada,” committed to disc by everyone from Mario Lanza to Fritz Wunderlich (in one of his most thrilling recordings), and Flórez’s spirited rendition is most welcome. José Sancho Padilla’s tender “Princesita” was a favorite of Tito Schipa, and here Flórez offers a dynamic modulation and sweetness one expects from his voice type but doesn’t always find in his onstage work.

Flórez also wisely opts to include little-known chestnuts like María Grever's "Júrame," a gorgeously sweeping, dramatic, operetta-style melody. Also operatic in scope is “Siboney,” by the beloved Cuban pianist/composer, Ernesto Lecuona. Closing the disc is “México lindo,” a thrilling, driving ode to the homeland of its composer, Chucho Monge, crowned here by another of the tenor’s sensational high Cs. Led by Miguel Harth-Bedoya, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Mariachi de Oro and numerous instrumental soloists all lend excellent support and splendid playing.

IRA SIFF

Alberto Grilo