Juan Diego Florez Besame Mucho

Juan Diego Flórez's passion for Latin American music started at an early age. It was a deep and lasting passion and his initial encounter with it turned into a lifelong passion. Now, he documents his love for Latin American music on a very personal album, Bésame Mucho. Songs from Cuba and Mexico, especially those by José Alfredo Jiménez, and from other Latin American countries fascinated Floréz from an early age. "This music goes straight to the heart," he confesses, "because it deals with things that affect us all directly, such as home, family, the joy of love and the pain of love." On Bésame Mucho Flórez wants to convey a representative image of the Latin American continent using songs that are all exemplary of the people and their various countries. The musical journey include Venezuelan "Caballo Viejo" as well as music from Columbia and the Argentine protest song "Sólo le pido a Dios." There s also "Aquarela do Brasil" from Brazil and finally classics like "Guantanamera" from Cuba. This album is certainly Floréz's most personal one so far. Juan Diego Flórez's repertoire focuses on bel canto operas, in particular the operas of Gioacchino Rossini and select French stage pieces. Most recently, he proved his versatility with a critically acclaimed Mozart album, even though Flórez had never sung any of the Mozart pieces on stage before. With his sleek, smooth voice and his confidence when it comes to high notes and style, Flórez has proven for many years his exceptional position as one of the best tenors of our time.