Celebraciòn

Celebracion

Tenor, Juan Diego Florez

By Penny Orloff

The Los Angeles Philharmonic opens its 2010/11 season with CELEBRACIÓN! at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Thursday, October 7 at 7:00 PM. Commencing his second year as music director, Gustavo Dudamel leads the orchestra in a concert featuring international opera megastar, Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez, that will be broadcast live on PBS.

Dudamel and Flórez share a close friendship and an enthusiasm for opera and Latin music. The first half of the program pairs familiar overtures and arias from the operas of Rossini, one of the greatest composers of the 19th century Italian bel canto era. The second half showcases some of the most beloved Spanish songs in the concert repertory, including Lara’s famous Granada and works by Gutierrez, Moncayo, Marquez, and Granda, which have enjoyed new popularity through Flórez’s recitals and recordings.

Since stepping in on short notice for an ailing singer in 1996, Flórez has become the most sought-after tenor since Pavarotti. His voice is a cultural throwback, a type of tenor voice that predominated in the florid music of Donizetti, Bellini, and Rossini in the 1840s. The bel canto style requires a different physical technique and lighter sound than contemporary opera audiences are generally used to. In the past, this “tenore di grazia” became the superstar of the era – a graceful, high, lyric tenor displaying almost superhuman agility, range, and speed through virtuoso musical passages out of reach for most of today’s more ample voices. However, Flórez is no mere vocal acrobat, and his ability to connect with audiences at a visceral level, beyond the beauty of his voice and brilliance of his technique, has resulted in the fame he enjoys the world over.

From a young age, music played a large role in Flórez’s life. His father was a well-known folk singer while his mother owned a café that hosted live music acts, including Flórez, who played guitar and sang Elvis Presley songs. His introduction to classical music came at 17 when he heard some recordings of Pavarotti, among other legendary tenors of the past. A scholarship to Curtis Institute brought him face to face with the Rossini works that would lead him onto the stages of opera houses all over the world.

The gala CELEBRACIÓN! evening begins with a 6 PM pre-concert cocktail reception in BP Hall at Disney Concert Hall, and concludes with a post-concert dinner dance in a party tent on Grand Ave. All proceeds support the L.A. Phil’s education initiatives, including Youth Orchestra L.A. (YOLA), Gustavo Dudamel’s signature project.

The most successful and celebrated product of Venezuela’s nationwide music training program, El Sistema, Dudamel passionately believes in universal music education. Inspired by his vision, the L.A. Phil has partnered with the L.A. Department of Parks and Recreation and community leaders to establish the YOLA program, dedicated to providing free instruments and high-quality music instruction to young children in underserved communities. The project plays a central role in Dudamel’s philanthropic aspirations. A year ago, his first act as L.A. Philharmonic Music Director was to conduct the YOLA-EXPO Center Youth Orchestra on the stage of the Hollywood Bowl. “It’s not just about music education, it is about coming together as a community through music, with a common bond and love. It gives hope along with skills and discipline for learning in general.”

Juan Diego Flórez agrees. He says that Peru currently has no community music programs, no opera theater or ballet company, and only one struggling professional orchestra in Lima. The tenor has now set himself the task of making positive changes to Peru's musical life, drawing on the example of Dudamel and El Sistema. Flórez has already created a foundation whose mission is to create and promote music schools and youth and community orchestras, and hopes to use his celebrity and clout to encourage private companies and the Peruvian government to come aboard. “Now we are rebuilding our Municipal Theatre,” he says. “And in 2012 we will have a concert in Machu Picchu where we will show the world what we can do."

Disney Concert Hall, 111 South Grand Avenue. Regular parking $9 directly beneath the concert hall. For more information and tickets, please phone (323) 850-2000 (daily 10 AM-6 PM) or go to www.laphil.com

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