Juan Diego Florez on navigating the high Cs

19 March 2014, 15:48

Tackling his role in La Fille du Regiment and working with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa - Juan Diego Florez reveals the secrets behind life performing at Covent Garden.

Speaking to Classic FM's Anne-Marie Minhall, he explains a little behind the magic of Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment, where he's tackling the 'Mount Everest' of tenor arias, 'Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fête!', which features an impressive run of nine high Cs early in the opera.

"'A mes amis' is a big scene and you have to hit the high Cs - that's the first challenge," he said. "But you shouldn't think too much about that. You shouldn't get too anxious about those high Cs, you just have to let them go and see what happens!"

In this in depth interview, Florez also shares his thoughts on working with Kiri Te Kanawa, his experiences of fatherhood, and explains the motivation behind latest album 'L'amour'.

"I wanted to mix some goodies with some not so known arias," he said. "People want to hear something rare. It's also a little glimpse of what operas I'll be singing in the future... some of them!"

Listen to the interview with Juan Diego Florez