Juan Diego Flórez Leads Met Opera’s Le Comte Ory

Tenor superstar Juan Diego Flórez, widely regarded as the world's greatest bel canto tenor performing today, tonight adds another new production at the Metropolitan Opera to his long list of accomplishments. Almost 200 years after the opera's premiere in Paris, Le Comte Ory finally arrives at the Met. The opera, which Flórez has previously recorded on Deutsche Grammophon, will also feature soprano Diana Damrau and mezzo Joyce DiDonato in the stellar cast in a production led by Bartlett Sher.

This production of Le Comte Ory will be Flórez's fifth new production at the Metropolitan Opera since he made his house debut in 2002 in another Rossini opera, IL Barbiere di Siviglia. 2002 was also the year of the tenor's Decca recital debut album, Rossini arias. Since his breakout performance at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in 1996, Flórez has regularly returned to the composer whose works have made him a worldwide sensation and performed in all of the world's greatest opera houses, given recitals in all major musical capitals including Carnegie Hall in New York, and of course headlined numerous new productions of both popular and largely forgotten bel canto operas. From capturing headlines in the New York Times when he encored an aria in 2008 (14 years after Pavarotti, who was the last singer to do so) to setting up a foundation in Peru with the aim of encouraging the creation of children's and youth orchestras and choirs on the national level, Flórez has maintained a busy career with the goal of bringing great music to as many people as possible.

For Decca and Deutsche Grammophon Flórez has recorded seven recital programs, four complete operas on CD, appeared in six DVDs of operas as well as the DVD and digital download of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2010-11 season opening concert led by Gustavo Dudamel. His impressive output includes a complete recording of Le Comte Ory as well as a DVD of his performance at the Met in La Sonnambula.

Flórez will appear in Le Comte Ory at the Metropolitan Opera beginning this evening with performances running through April 21, 2011. The April 9th Saturday matinee performance will be simulcast to movie theaters around the world as part of the Met's Live in HD series with and encore presentation schedule for Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 6:30 p.m. local time.