DANIEL JOHN KELLEY

Apparently, Mr. Juan Diego Florez did the impossible last night…again. 18 high C’s! Check please.

I would like to take this moment to travel back in time, to a era before the mighty Juan Diego Florez hit the boards- and those craaazy high notes:

The first opera production I ever saw was a taped PBS version of the Barber of Seville. As many of you know, Count Almaviva in the Barber of Seville is a JDF mainstay- however, the count in this production was a Rossini tenor all his own. The American born tenor Rockwell Blake played the Count in this production, and was the greatest Rossini tenor of his time. Much like Florez, also renowned for his rendition of “Ah Mes Amis”- the aria that’s giving JDF so much New York Times street cred now.

Check him out here, in my favorite Youtube version of him- singing the aria with piano accompaniment, and belting out not 8- but 11 high cs, and a D.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYDjpKX2iCM&hl=en]

I would say JDF is more the second coming of Rockwell Blake than the claims to Pavarotti-hood many have put upon him, only nobody has really ever heard of Rockwell Blake anymore. Mores the pity!