Vincenzo Bellini
Operas Adelson e Salvini (1825) Bianca e Fernando (1826) Il pirata (1827) La straniera (1829) Zaira (1829) I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830) La sonnambula (1831) Norma (1831) Beatrice di Tenda (1833) I puritani (1835)
v t e

I Capuleti e i Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues) is an Italian opera (Tragedia lirica) in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini.

The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo. This was based on Italian sources rather than taken directly from William Shakespeare. (The tomb scene from Vaccai's opera has sometimes been performed with Bellini's opera.)

Bellini was persuaded to write the opera for the 1830 Carnival season at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, with only a month and a half available for composition. He succeeded by appropriating a large amount of music previously written for his unsuccessful opera Zaira.

The first performance of I Capuleti e i Montecchi was on 11 March 1830.^[1][2][3]

Composition history[link]

Behind the libretto stand many Italian, ultimately Renaissance sources supplied by Bandello, probably through Belleforest and Pierre Boaistuau, rather than Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Romani rewrote for Bellini the Giulietta e Romeo he had written originally for Vaccai, which drew on a play Giulietta e Romeo of 1818 by Luigi Scevola, and which had also been set by E. Torriani. The theme was very popular in Italy: there were earlier librettos by Luzzi for Marescalchi (1785, Venice), Foppa for Zingarelli (1796, Milan), and Buonaiuti for P. C. Guglielmi (1810, London). The first Italian libretto explicitly based on Shakespeare’s play was by M. M. Marcello, for Marchetti’s Romeo e Giulietta (1865, Trieste).

In Venice to prepare the local première of Il pirata with Giuditta Grisi as Imogene, Bellini wrote I Capuleti in a month and a half (starting about 20 January) after the Teatro La Fenice had been let down by Giovanni Pacini. He wrote the part of Romeo for Grisi (whose presence, together with a relatively weak male company, may have conditioned the choice of subject); it rarely descends below c'. Giulietta was sung by Maria Caradori-Allan, Tebaldo by Lorenzo Bonfigli and Lorenzo by Ranieri Pocchini Cavalieri. Bellini had intended the part of Lorenzo for a bass, but in Act 1 of the autograph score he transposed it for tenor, and in Act 2 the part is written in the tenor clef throughout. Although these changes were possibly for Senigallia (summer 1830), Cavalieri, the singer at the première, appears to have been a tenor. (Published scores and most performances assign the role to a bass.)

Bellini thoroughly reworked ten melodies from his unsuccessful Zaira into I Capuleti e i Montecchi: he explained that "Zaira, hissed at Parma, was avenged by I Capuleti". Giulietta’s "Oh quante volte" in Act 1 uses Nelly’s romanza "Dopo l’oscuro nembo" from Adelson e Salvini (1825, Naples). Bellini prepared a version for La Scala (26 December 1830), lowering Giulietta’s part for the mezzo-soprano Amalia Schütz-Oldosi.

Performance history[link]

Early librettos divide the opera into four parts; at Bologna in 1832 Maria Malibran replaced the last part with the tomb scene from Vaccai’s final act, a tradition followed by contralto Romeos such as Alboni (Vaccai’s scene is included as an appendix to Ricordi’s vocal score). This version was performed in 1833 in Paris and London (on 20 July)^[4] with Pasta as Romeo, but in Florence the following year Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis restored Bellini’s ending. Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient’s singing as Romeo in Leipzig (1834) and Magdeburg (1835) created a profound impression on the young Wagner.

I Capuleti was revived in 1935, the centenary of Bellini’s death, at Catania and it was given its first US performance on 4 April 1937 in New Orleans. It appeared in 1954 at Palermo, with Giulietta Simionato as Romeo and Rosanna Carteri as Giulietta. In 1966 Claudio Abbado prepared a version for La Scala in which Romeo was sung by a tenor, Giacomo Aragall; the cast included Renata Scotto and Margherita Rinaldi alternating in the role of Giulietta and Luciano Pavarotti as Tebaldo. This version was also performed in Amsterdam, Rome and Philadelphia and at the 1967 Edinburgh Festival, but it is no longer used.

Modern day productions have been mounted fairly frequently, with 19 (some concert only) having been presented or planned to be presented since 1 January 2010^[5]. A San Francisco Opera production is planned for September 2013 featuring Joyce Di Donato.^[5]

Roles[link]

[edit] Synopsis ^[6]

Place: around the palace of Capellio (Capulet) in Verona

Time: 13th century

In this version of the story the Capuleti and Montecchi are rival political factions (Guelph and Ghibelline respectively) rather than Shakespeare's 'two households, both alike in dignity'. Capellio is the father of Giulietta (Juliet) and the leader of the Capuleti. Giulietta is betrothed to Tebaldo (Tybalt), however she has already met and fallen in love with Romeo, leader of the Montecchi. This is a secret to all but Lorenzo (Lawrence), her doctor and confidant. Complicating matters, Romeo has inadvertently killed the son of Capellio (Giulietta's brother) in battle.

Act 1[link]

Scene 1: The Palace

Capellio (bass) and Tebaldo (tenor) address their followers advising rejection of an offer of peace to be brought by an envoy from Romeo. Tebaldo will avenge the killing of Capellio's son to celebrate his marriage to Giulietta ('È serbata a questo acciaro'). Capellio wants the marriage to take place immediately, brushing aside the objections of Lorenzo (bass) that Giulietta is ill with a fever.

Romeo (mezzo-soprano) enters in the guise of a Montague envoy, offering peace to be guaranteed by the marriage of Romeo and Giulietta. He explains that Romeo regrets the death of Capellio's son ('Se Romeo t'uccise un figlio'), and offers to take his place as a second son for the old man. Capellio indicates that Tebaldo has already taken on that role and rejects all idea of peace. Romeo accepts their challenge of war ('La tremenda ultrice spada').

Scene 2: Giulietta's room

Guilietta (soprano) longs for Romeo (in the romanza 'Oh! quante volte'). Lorenzo enters. He has arranged for Romeo to come to her by a secret door. Romeo tries to persuade Giulietta to escape with him, but she resists in the name of family law and honour, declaring that she would prefer to die of a broken heart.

Scene 3: Another part of the palace

The Capuleti are celebrating the forthcoming marriage. Recognized by Lorenzo, Romeo is in disguise awaiting the support of his soldiers to prevent the wedding. In the tumult following the armed attack by the Montecchi, Giulietta sees Romeo and he again unsuccessfully urges her to run away with him. Capellio and Tebaldo discover them, believing Romeo to be the Montecchi envoy. Giulietta tries to shield him from her father, but he proudly tells them his true name. The Montagues enter to protect him and the lovers are separated by their two factions.

Act 2[link]

Scene 1: Another part of the Palace

Introduced by an arioso for cello, Giulietta awaits news of the fighting. Lorenzo tells her that Romeo lives, but she will soon be taken away to Tebaldo's castle. He persuades her to take a sleeping drug that will make it appear that she has died. He will arrange for Romeo (and himself) to be present when she awakes. Capellio comes to order her to leave with Tebaldo at dawn. She begs her father's forgiveness before she dies ('Ah! non poss'io partire'). Capellio is alarmed and suspects the involvement of Lorenzo. He will have him watched.

Scene 2: The grounds of the palace

Romeo is impatiently waiting for Lorenzo who fails to appear. Tebaldo enters and they have an angry duet ('Stolto! a un sol mio grido'). They fight but are interrupted by a funeral procession ('Pace alla tua bell'anima'). It is Giulietta's. The rivals are united in remorse, asking each other for death.

Scene 3: The tombs of the Capuleti

Romeo enters and his companions open Giulietta's tomb. Romeo bids her farewell ('Deh! tu, bell'anima') and swallows poison. Giulietta awakes finding Romeo surprised by her simulated death and unaware of Lorenzo's plan. With great pathos, Romeo tells her that he has already acted to end his life. He dies and Giulietta, unable to live on without him, expires on his body. The Capuleti and Montecchi blame Capellio for the tragedy.

Recordings[link]

References[link]

Notes

Cited sources

• Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN 0-14-029312-4

Other sources

• Osborne, Charles, The Bel Canto Operas, Amadeus Press, ISBN 0-931340-84-5

External links[link]

• Libretto at Karadar.com

v t e William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Characters Romeo Juliet Mercutio Tybalt Benvolio Friar Laurence Nurse Paris Prince Escalus Rosaline Full Character List Sources The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet Pyramus and Thisbe Palace of Pleasure Troilus and Criseyde Ephisaica Musical adaptations Romeo und Julie (1776) I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830) Roméo et Juliette (Berlioz) (1839) Roméo et Juliette (1867) Romeo and Juliet (overture) (1870) Romeo und Julia (1929) Romeo and Juliet (1938) West Side Story (1957) Roméo et Juliette, de la Haine à l'Amour (2001) Giulietta e Romeo (2007) On screen Romeo and Juliet (1900) Romeo and Juliet (1908) Romeo and Juliet (1916) Romeo and Juliet (1936) Romeo and Juliet (1954) Romeo i Dzhulyetta (1955) Romeo and Juliet (1968) Romeo and Juliet (1978) The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (1982) Romeo and Juliet (1992) Romeo + Juliet (1996) Romeo and Juliet (2012) Adaptations Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953) Romeo, Juliet and Darkness (1960) Romanoff and Juliet (1961) West Side Story (1961) Romie-0 and Julie-8 (1979) The Sea Prince and the Fire Child (1981) Tromeo and Juliet (1996) Love Is All There Is (1996) The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) Shakespeare in Love (1998) Romeo Must Die (2000) Romiette and Julio (2001) Hobak Nar (2004) Pizza My Heart (2005) West Bank Story (2005) Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss (2006) Romeo × Juliet (2007) Saints & Sinners (2007) Gnomeo & Juliet (2011) Book:Romeo and Juliet

Natalie Dessay, 2008

Natalie Dessay (French pronunciation: [na.ta.li də.sɛ]) (born Nathalie Dessaix, 19 April 1965, in Lyon) is a French coloratura soprano. She dropped the silent "h" in her first name in honor of Natalie Wood when she was in grade school and subsequently simplified the spelling of her surname outside France. Famous in her earlier career for a very high upper extension, limpid intonation and superb coloratura, Dessay became more recognized in recent years for her dramatic and comedic flair as a singing actress.

In her youth, Dessay had intended to be a ballet dancer, and then an actress.^[1] She discovered her talent for singing while taking acting classes, and shifted her artistic focus to music.^[2] Dessay was encouraged to study voice at the Conservatoire de Bordeaux and gained experience as a chorister in Toulouse. At the competition Les Voix Nouvelles, run by France Télécom, she was awarded First Prize (Premier Prix de Concours) followed by a year's study at Paris Opera's Ecole d'Art Lyrique, where she sang "Elisa" in Mozart's Il re pastore. Also, she entered the International Mozart Competition at the Vienna State Opera, winning First Prize.

She was quickly approached by a number of theatres, and subsequently sang "Blondchen", "Madame Herz" (in Der Schauspieldirektor), "Zerbinetta" and "Zaïde" at the Opéra National de Lyon and the Opéra Bastille, as well as "Adele" in Die Fledermaus in Geneva.

Career[link]

In April and May 1992 at the Opéra Bastille, she sang the role of "Olympia" in The Tales of Hoffmann with José van Dam. The Roman Polanski production was not well received, but it began the road to stardom for Dessay. Although she was soon featured in another production of Hoffmann, it would be over ten years before her return to Paris Opera in the same role. Soon after her Hoffmann run, Dessay joined the Vienna State Opera as Blondchen in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail. In December 1993, she was then asked to replace Cheryl Studer in one of the three female roles in a production of Hoffmann at the Vienna Opera. Her "Olympia" received acclaim from the Viennese audiences and praise from Plácido Domingo.^{[citation needed]}

She attended a performance where Barbara Bonney had sung Sophie in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier under Carlos Kleiber. Dessay was cast in the same role with another conductor. Her hope was to work with Kleiber, but he died before any project came to fruition.^{[citation needed]} Blondchen in Die Entführung and Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos became her best-known and most often played roles.

In October 1994, Dessay made her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York in the role of Fiakermilli in Strauss's Arabella, and returned there in September 1997 as Zerbinetta and in February 1998 as Olympia.

The Staatsoper approached Dessay with two operas: Richard Strauss's Die schweigsame Frau, and Alban Berg's unfinished Lulu. Dessay declined the latter, saying the score was too difficult for her^{[citation needed]}. She admitted that Die schweigsame Frau was already painful to learn.

At the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Dessay first performed the role of the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute. Although she was hesitant to perform the role, saying that she didn't want to play any evil characters, director Robert Carsen convinced her that this Queen would be different, almost a sister to Pamina. Dessay agreed to do the role, claiming it would be a one-time series of performances. There followed a year-long series of final performances of the Queen of the Night.^{[citation needed]}

During the 2001–2002 season in Vienna, she began to experience vocal difficulties and had to be replaced in almost all of the performances of La sonnambula. Subsequently, she was forced to cancel several other performances, including a French version of Lucia di Lammermoor in Lyon and a Zerbinetta at the Royal Opera House in London. She withdrew from the stage and underwent surgery on one of her vocal cords in July 2002.^[3] In February 2003, she returned to live performances in a Paris concert. Later, she cancelled and had further surgery, but by mid-2005 she was back on stage.

In the summer of 2003, Dessay gave her first US recital in Santa Fe. She was so attracted to New Mexico in general, and to Santa Fe in particular, that Santa Fe Opera (SFO) quickly rearranged its schedule to feature her in SFO's 2004 production of La sonnambula.^[4][5] She returned in the 2006 SFO season as Pamina (The Magic Flute). She gave her first performances in the role of Violetta in La traviata^[1] at SFO on 3 July 2009 in a production staged by Laurent Pelly. Her husband, Laurent Naouri appeared as Germont.^[6]

The 2006/2007 season schedule included Lucia di Lammermoor and La sonnambula in Paris, La fille du régiment directed by Laurent Pelly in London and Vienna, and a Manon in Barcelona. She opened the 2007–08 season at the Met as Lucia and also repeated her role in La fille du régiment.^[7] In January 2009 she sang the part of Melisande in a much acclaimed stagione production of Pelléas et Mélisande by Claude Debussy at the Theater an der Wien, the second opera house in Vienna, alongside Laurent Naouri. On 2 March 2009, Dessay sang the title role in La Sonnambula at the New York Metropolitan Opera. It was the first new production of the opera at the Met since Joan Sutherland sang the title role in the 1960s.^[8]

In February 2012, Dessay said in an interview with Le Figaro that she would take a sabbatical from opera performance in 2015.^[9]

Personal life[link]

Dessay is married to the bass-baritone Laurent Naouri, and she converted to his Jewish faith.^[10] The couple has two children.^[1]

Recordings[link]

Dessay provided the singing voice for the character of Anna Sørensen (played by Diane Kruger) in the 2005 movie Joyeux Noël.

DVDs[link]

• The Miracle of the Voice – Greatest Moments on Stage
• Le rossignol (Stravinsky)
• La fille du régiment (Donizetti) – Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Bruno Campanella, BBC 2007
• Hamlet (Thomas)
• Manon (Massenet)
• Les contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach)
• Orphée aux enfers (Offenbach)
• Arabella (R. Strauss)
• La sonnambula (Bellini)
• Pelléas et Mélisande (Debussy)
• Ariadne auf Naxos (R. Strauss)

CDs[link]

• La sonnambula (Bellini)
• Die Zauberflöte (Mozart)
• Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)
• Orphée aux enfers (Offenbach)
• Les contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach)
• Mass in C Minor (Mozart)^{[clarification needed Great Mass in C minor, K. 427, or Waisenhaus, K. 139 ?]}
• Lakmé (Delibes)
• Mitridate (Mozart)
• Alcina (Handel)
• L'Orfeo (Monteverdi)
• "Vocalise" (Rachmaninov)
• Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno (Handel)
• Magnificat (J. S. Bach) and Dixit Dominus (Handel)
• The Miracle of the Voice
• Delirio – Cantatas (Handel)
• Joyeux Noël (singing voice for the character Anna Sørensen)
• Mozart Heroines
• French Opera Arias
• Amor: Scenes and Lieder (R. Strauss)
• Bach: Cantatas (J. S. Bach)
• Italian Opera Arias (Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi)
• Mad Scenes (Donizetti, Meyerbeer, Bellini, and Leonard Bernstein)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Natalie Dessay

• Dessay's Official Web Site
• Natalie Dessay, unofficial Web site
• Natalie Dessay recordings on EMI & Virgin Classics
• Virgin Classics short biography and discography
• Natalie Dessay at the Internet Movie Database

Laura Claycomb (born 23 August 1968) is an American lyric coloratura soprano opera singer.

Background[link]

Laura Claycomb was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and grew up in Dallas, Texas, where she excelled in church and school choir, winning numerous youthful competitions such as the National Association of Teachers (NATS^[1], U.I.L., Texas All-State Choir^[2]). She won a full scholarship to Southern Methodist University^[3], where she completed two bachelors' degrees in vocal performance and foreign languages.^[4]

Early career[link]

She gained international attention for the first time in 1994 after stepping in at the last minute to perform Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Geneva Opera. This role was also the vehicle of her debut at the Paris Bastille, with the Munich Radio Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera and Pittsburgh Opera.

Another of her roles is Gilda in Rigoletto, which she has performed at Canadian Opera Company, Opéra de Lausanne, Opéra Bastille, Pittsburgh Opera, New Israeli Opera, Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile, Canadian Opera Company, Teatro Municipale Giuseppe Verdi Salerno, Houston Grand Opera, and The Dallas Opera.

Her Lucia di Lammermoor at Houston Grand Opera "literally catapulted the opening night audience to its feet with her creativity and versatility." (Don Moser, Houston Voice).

Other notable roles have been her first Lucia di Lammermoor, Linda di Chamounix; "La fille du régiment"; Comtesse Adele in Le Comte Ory, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare; Morgana in Alcina; Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann, and Ophelie in Hamlet.

She got her start at San Francisco Opera where she held an Adler fellowship, singing roles such as Xenia in Boris Godunov, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Duchesse Medina-Sidonia in Milhaud's Christoph Colombe, Marie in La fille du régiment and Fiakermilli in Arabella. Her role-debut of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos was the vehicle of her return to San Francisco Opera in 2002. She reprised the role at the Richard-Strauss-Festspiele in Garmisch with Ulf Schirmer and at Los Angeles Opera.

Career Performances[link]

Following her European debut in Geneva, she sang Marie at Turin's Teatro Regio in Luca Ronconi's production and again as Ismene in Graham Vick's production of Mitridate, Rè di Ponto. She followed with Princess Rezia in Haydn's L'Incontro Improvviso for L'Opéra de Nice and L'Opéra de Bordeaux, and Serpetta in Mozart's La finta giardiniera at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with Patrick Summers conducting.

After her debut at La Scala in the title role of Linda di Chamounix" with Marcelo Alvarez^[5], she sang Marie in Rome and her first Sophie in Keith Warner's production of Der Rosenkavalier at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. Other appearances include her role-debut at L'Opéra de Lausanne as Adina in L'Elisir d'amore and as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Vlaamse Opera, a role she reprised at the Berlin Staatsoper.

Following success at Houston Grand Opera as Gilda in Rigoletto in 2001, Laura Claycomb forged a special relationship with audiences in Houston, returning to sing Lucia di Lammermoor, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Ilia in Idomeneo and the title role of La Fille du Régiment.^[6]

In Trieste, Ms. Claycomb debuted the role of Ophelie in Thomas' Hamlet; in Toulouse, she debuted Philine in Mignon and at Brussels' Théâtre de la Monnaie, she debuted Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Baroque opera[link]

In the Baroque style, she has sung with some of the world's most renowned early music conductors and ensembles. She sang Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare in Montpellier, Drusilla in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea at the Netherlands Opera, and Fedra in Traetta's Ippolito ed Aricia in Montpellier with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques. She reprised the role of Cleopatra for the Drottningholm Festival with Roy Goodman conducting and more recently at Houston Grand Opera with music director Patrick Summers. With Richard Hickox, Ms. Claycomb debuted the role of Morgana in Alcina at English National Opera. With Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre, she debuted the role of Ginevra in Ariodante at L'Opera Garnier in Paris; Ms. Claycomb reprised the role in Munich with Harry Bicket. She debuted the title role of Semele at the Flemish Opera with Michael Hofstetter conducting. In 2008, she sang Polissena in Radamisto in a new David Alden production at Santa Fe with Harry Bicket conducting.

Ms. Claycomb also has a close relationship with Baroque conductor Emmanuelle Haïm, and performed varied French and Italian Baroque repertoire with Haïm on tour in the United States (St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and New World Symphony) and with her group Le Concert d'Astrée at the Aldeburgh Festival, in Paris, on tour in France, on BBC radio. The soprano performed excerpts with countertenor David Daniels at the 2007 Cortona Festival in Italy with Ms. Haïm and le Concert d'Astrée. Her first recording collaboration with Haïm is Händel's Arcadian duets" on Virgin Veritas/EMI. In December 2011, she celebrated the orchestra's 10 year anniversary in a Gala at Paris' Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, rebroadcast by France Musique^[7].

Modern music[link]

In modern music, she made her debut at the Salzburg Festival in Peter Sellars's new production of Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, reprising the role of Amanda in the same production at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. She can be heard on the Grammy-nominated recording of Le Grand Macabre for Sony with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting. Concerts of Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel (role debut as Gretel) with the London Symphony Orchestra, Copland's The Tender Land (role debut as Laurie Moss), The Rake's Progress (role debut as Anne Trulove) all at London's Barbican, as well as Mistress Page in Vaughan Williams' Sir John in Love in Newcastle with the Northern Sinfonia and its recording for Chandos are some highlights of her operatic collaboration with conductor Richard Hickox. Ms. Claycomb debuted Cunegonde in Candide at Opera Pacific with John Demain. In 2006, Ms. Claycomb originated the role of Queen Wealtheow in Elliot Goldenthal's opera Grendel in a Julie Taymor production with Los Angeles Opera and Lincoln Center Festival. She added Anne Trulove in the Rake's Progress to her stage roles in 2007 with a new Robert LePage production she originated at Brussels' Théâtre de la Monnaie and reprised at Opéra de Lyon.

Concerts[link]

In concert music, with Esa-Pekka Salonen, she has sung Debussy's Le martyre de Saint Sébastien (Angel) with the Swedish Radio Orchestra and Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream' with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Ms. Claycomb sang the world-premiere of Salonen's Five Fragments After Sappho with the composer conducting at the Ojai Festival, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles, with the London Sinfonietta at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and with Ensemble Sospeso at Carnegie Hall. She reprised the Sappho songs with Ensemble Modern in Japan on a program including Stravinsky's Japanese Lyrics and [Balmont] Songs with Dominique My conducting.

She was the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana at the re-opening gala of the Blossom Festival with the Cleveland Orchestra with Franz Welser-Möst conducting, again in the Messiah again with Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall, returned with Pierre Boulez for the title role of Stravinsky's Rossignol and with Matthias Pintscher in Debussy's "Le Martyr de St. Sebastien." With Sir Roger Norrington and the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, Ms. Claycomb has made tours as Teresa in Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini' (recorded for Hanssler Classics) and as the soprano soloist in Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony. With the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, she sang concerts of Schoenberg's Herzgewächse and Toch's Chinesische Flöte, concerts and a recording of Mahler's Fourth Symphony for San Francisco Symphony's own label, Mahler's 8th Symphony, and concerts of Strauss' Brentano Lieder. With the London Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Claycomb sang Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel with Richard Hickox conducting, Mahler's Second Symphony with Andrew Davis conducting, Carmina Burana and Barber's Knoxville, Summer of 1915 with Hickox conducting, as well as concerts of Berlioz's "Benvenuto Cellini" with Sir Colin Davis (recorded for LSO LIVE label.) Most recently, she joined the LSO for Mahler's Fourth Symphony with Valery Gergiev in London and Athens.

Her collaboration in concert with Richard Hickox in addition to their many operatic collaborations also includes Grainger at the BBC Proms, Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony at the Gulbenkian in Lisbon, a stunning Haydn Creation at the Spoleto Festival and Handel's Messiah with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

In London's Royal Albert Hall, she sang a Mozart program including Der Schauspieldirektor with Ivan Fischer and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, which was also broadcast on BBC Radio. On another all-Mozart program in Switzerland, Ms. Claycomb was the feature, singing a program of 6 concert arias with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and conductor Jonathan Darlington. She appeared as Madame Silberklang in Der Schauspieldirektor with the Munich Radio Orchestra and Sebastian Weigle, and another Mozart concert with Ulf Schirmer. Ms. Claycomb also performed Beethoven's rarely-heard oratorio Christus am Ölberg with the Flemish Opera Orchestra and Ivan Törz.

She sang her first Brahms Requiem at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari with Gerard Korsten, a concert of bel canto excerpts with John Demain and Opera Pacific as well as at the Lanaudière Festival with Yannick Nezet-Sequin, and was the feature of New Year's concerts with Vlaamse Opera, with George Pehlavanian conducting.

With an avid interest in recital repertoire, chamber music, and neglected composers, she combines this music into her recital schedule with pianists Roger Vignoles, Peter Grunberg and Iain Burnside. In past years, Ms. Claycomb reprised Messiaen's Chants de terre et de ciel with Grunberg on "Cal Performances" to rave reviews, as well performing three world-premieres at One World Theater in Austin on a chamber concert with Nina Kotova, José Feghali, and Ron Neal. Her recitals have taken her from San Francisco, to Chicago, San Antonio, Houston, Brussels, Bruges (Concertgebouw), Santiago de Compostela, Spain, the Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy and a BBC Voices recital on English radio.

Awards[link]

Claycomb was the recipient of the 2011 Maria Callas Debut Artist Award for her performances as Gilda in Dallas Opera's production of Rigoletto. ^[8] She has also won the Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1994, the Operetta Prize at the Belvedere Competition in Vienna in 1992 and First Prize in the National Opera Association Competition in 1992. A native Texan, she studied with Barbara Hill Moore at Southern Methodist University, where she received degrees in both Vocal Performance and Foreign Languages; she studied with the late Norma Newton from 1994 until Newton's death in 2008. She makes her home in Italy.

Recordings and Videos[link]

• Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre / Ligeti /Salonen, Philharmonia Orch, Willard White, Graham Clark, Sybille Ehlert, Jard van Nes, Frode Olsen, Charlotte Hellekant, Steven Cole, Derek Lee Ragin, et al.., Sony B00000ICMU CD, 1999
• Vaughan-Williams Vaughan Williams: Sir John in Love / Richard Hickox / Anne-Marie Owens, Sarah Connolly, Northern Sinfonia and Chorus, Brian Bannatyne-Scott, Donald Maxwell, Roderick Williams, Susan Gritton, Matthew Best, Mark Padmore, Stephen Varcoe, Stephan Loges, John Bowen, Richard Lloyd-Morgan, Laura Claycomb, Henry Moss, Mark Richardson CHANDOS, B00005M0ER, CD/MP3, 2001
• Handel: Arcadian Duets / Dessay, Gens, Asawa, Haim, et al., VIRGIN 07243545524272002, CD/DIGITALMP3, 2001
• Mahler: Symphony no 4 / Tilson Thomas, Claycomb, San Francisco SO/DELOS SACD Hybrid, 2002
• Il Salotto Vol 6 - La Partenza / Laura Claycomb, Bruce Ford, Manuela Custer, Roberto Servile, Dominic Natoli, Nicola Rossi Giordano, Dean Robinson, Brindley Sherratt / OPERA RARA ORR227 CD, 2004
• Il Salotto Vol 7- Primo Dolce Affano / Bruce Ford, Elizabeth Vidal, Laura Claycomb, Manuela Custer, William Matteuzzi, Roberto Servile, Alastair Miles, piano - David Harper / OPERA RARA ORR230 CD, 2005
• Vocal Teamwork / Annick Massis, Bruce Ford, Majella Cullagh, Alastair Miles, Jennifer Larmore, Mirco Palazzi, Laura Claycomb, Peter Glossop, Della Jones, Alexander Oliver, Yvonne Kenny, Rockwell Blake, Daniela Barcellona, William Matteuzzi, Jane Eaglen, Christian du Plessis, Deborah Cook. London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra - conductors David Parry, James Judd, Giuliano Carella / OPERA RARA ORR233 CD, 2005
• Giacomo Meyerbeer: L’esule di Granata (Highlights) / Manuela Custer, Laura Claycomb, Mirco Palazzi, Paul Austin Kelly, Brindley Sherratt, Ashley Catling. Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Giuliano Carella - conductor / OPERA RARA ORR234 CD, 2006
• Benvenuto Cellini Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini / Norrington / SWR Stuttgart Radio Orchestra / Ford, Maltman, Ekkehard Vogler, Franz Hawlata, Ralf Lukas, Reinhard Mayr, Johannes Chum, Middle German Radio Chorus-Leipzig, 2007
• Entre Nous: Celebrating Offenbach / Jennifer Larmore, Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny, Mark Stone, Diana Montague, Laura Claycomb, Elizabeth Vidal, Colin Lee, Loic Felix, Mark Wilde, Cassandre Berthon, Mark le Brocq, Alexandra Sherman, Andre Cognet. London Philharmonic Orchestra, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, David Parry - conductor / OPERA RARA ORR243 CD, 2007
• Giovanni Pacini: Alessandro nell’Indie / Bruce Ford, Jennifer Larmore, Laura Claycomb, Mark Wilde, Dean Robinson. London Philharmonic Orchestra, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, David Parry - conductor/ OPERA RARA ORC35 CD, 2008
• Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini / Colin Davis / London Symphony Orchestra / London Symphony Chorus / Gregory Kunde, Laura Claycomb, Darren Jeffery, Peter Coleman-Wright, Andrew Kennedy, Isabelle Cals, Jacques Imbrailo, John Relyea, Andrew Foster-Williams, Alasdair Elliot, 2008
• Ambroise Thomas: La Cour de Célimène / Laura Claycomb, Joan Rodgers, Alastair Miles, Sébastien Droy, Nicole Tibbels. Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra, Andrew Litton - conductor/ OPERA RARA ORC37 CD, 2008
• Igor Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress/ Laura Claycomb, Andrew Kennedy, William Shimell, Julianne Young, Dagmar Pecková / Robert LePage, Théâtre de la Monnaie, Kazushi Ono / "BBC/OPUS ARTE" B00118DQY2 "DVD", 2008
• Fabrizio Cassol/Bach: Pitié! / AKA MOON, Laura Claycomb, Melissa Givens, Cristina Zavalloni, Serge Kakudji, Magic Malik, Airelle Besson, Sanne Van Hek, Tcha Limberger, Philippe Thurion, Lode Vercampt, Monica Brett-Crowther, Alexandre Cavalière / CYPRESS RECORDS, CD, 2008
• Carl Orff: Carmina Burana HYBRID SACD - DSD Richard Hickox - Conductor, London Symphony Orchestra, Laura Claycomb, Barry Banks, Christopher Maltman / ""CHANDOS RECORDS"", "CD", 2008
• Mahler: Symphony # 8 HYBRID SACD - DSD, Michael Tilson Thomas - Conductor, Erin Wall, Elza van den Heever, Laura Claycomb, Katarina Karneus, Yvonne Naef, Anthony Dean Griffey, Quinn Kelsey, James Morris, San Francisco Symphony Chorus, San Francisco Girls Chorus, Pacific Boychoir, San Francisco Symphony / ""SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY LABEL"", "SACD", 2008

References[link]

1. ^ [1], NATS
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ Opera Warhorses, Interview.
5. ^ Marcelo Alvarez
6. ^ Houston Grand Opera
7. ^ "France Musique rebroadcast site". http://sites.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/em/concert-soir/emission.php?e_id=80000056&d_id=425005622. 
8. ^ "Dallas Opera Announcement". http://blog.dallasopera.org/2011/05/19/2011-maria-callas-debut-artist-of-the-year/. 

External links[link]

• Laura Claycomb Official Website
• San Francisco Classical Voice Article [4]
• San Francisco Chronicle Article [5]
• Janos Gerebens article
• French review
• Kommersant article
• Vremya Russian Interview
• Kultura Russian interview

Juan Diego Flórez by Pietro Spagnoli, 2009.

Juan Diego Flórez Salom (born January 13, 1973 in Lima, Peru)^[1] is a Peruvian operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in bel canto operas. On June 4, 2007, he received his country's highest decoration, the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Sol del Perú.^[2]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Juan Diego Flórez was born in Lima, Peru, on January 13, 1973 where his father, Rubén Flórez, was a noted guitarist and singer of Peruvian popular and criolla music. In an interview in the Peruvian newspaper Ojo, Flórez recounted his early days when his mother managed a pub with live music and he worked as a replacement singer whenever the main attraction called in sick. "It was a tremendous experience for me, since most of those who were regulars at the pub were of a certain age, so I had to be ready to sing anything from huayños to Elvis Presley music and, in my mind, that served me a great deal because, in the final analysis, any music that is well structured—whether it is jazz, opera, or pop—is good music".^[3]

Initially intending to pursue a career in popular music, he entered the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Lima at the age of 17. His classical voice emerged in the course of his studies there under Maestro Andrés Santa María. During this time, he became a member of the Coro Nacional of Peru and sang as a soloist in Mozart's Coronation Mass and Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle.

He received a scholarship to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia where he studied from 1993 to 1996 and began singing in student opera productions in the repertory that is still his specialty today, Rossini and the bel canto operas of Bellini and Donizetti. During this period, he also studied with Marilyn Horne at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. In 1994 the Peruvian tenor, Ernesto Palacio invited him to Italy to work on a recording of Vicente Martín y Soler's opera Il Tutore Burlato. He subsequently became Flórez's teacher, mentor and manager and has had a profound influence on his career.

1996 – present[link]

This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (April 2011)

Flórez's first breakthrough and professional debut came in 1996, at the Rossini Festival in the Italian city of Pesaro, Rossini's birthplace. At the age of 23, he stepped in to take the leading tenor role in Matilde di Shabran when Bruce Ford became ill. He made his debut at La Scala in the same year as the Chevalier danois (Danish Knight) in Gluck's Armide, and later in the year he sang the role of Georges in Meyerbeer's L'étoile du nord with Wexford Festival Opera. His Covent Garden debut followed in 1997 where he sang the role of Count Potoski in a world premiere concert performance of Donizetti's Elisabetta. Debuts followed at the Vienna State Opera in 1999 as Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia and at the New York Metropolitan Opera in 2002, again as Count Almaviva. On February 20, 2007, the opening night of Donizetti's La fille du régiment at La Scala, Flórez broke the theater's 74-year-old tradition of no encores when he reprised "Ah! mes amis" with its nine high C's following an "overwhelming" ovation from the audience.^[4] He repeated this solo encore at New York's Metropolitan Opera House on April 21, 2008, the first singer to do so there since 1994.^[5][6]

Flórez is also active on the concert stages of Europe, North America, and South America. Amongst the many venues in which he has given concerts and recitals are the Wigmore Hall in London, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, the Teatro Segura in Lima, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In a departure from his usual repertoire, he sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" from the Broadway musical Carousel at the Berlin Live 8 concert in 2005.

He was signed by Decca in 2001 and since then has released six solo recital CDs on the Decca label: Rossini Arias, which won the 2003 Cannes Classical Award; Una furtiva lagrima, which won the 2004 Cannes Classical Award; Great Tenor Arias which won the 2005 Echo Klassik award for the best arias and duets recital; Sentimiento Latino; Arias for Rubini and most recently, Bel Canto Spectacular. His latest recording is Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice, recorded live in May 2008.^[7] In addition to his official discography, almost all his professionally performed roles have been preserved in radio broadcasts, and many also by television.

Voice[link]

Flórez has a leggiero tenor voice of exceptional beauty which, while not of great size,^{[citation needed]} is nevertheless audible in even the largest houses due to the predominance of high frequencies in its harmonic structure.^{[citation needed]} Its compass is two octaves, up to and including the high E flat (Zelmira, 2009 in live performance, also on CD in an aria by Bellini—"All udir de padre afflitto"—in the CD Arias for Rubini), the higher part of its range being particularly strong and brilliant, with almost no sense of effort, while the lowest notes are comparatively weaker.^{[citation needed]} The head and chest registers are perfectly integrated, with no audible break in the passaggio.^[8] His breath control is impeccable, allowing the longest phrases to be sustained with apparent ease.^{[citation needed]} The ornaments of bel canto, including the trill, are well executed, and stylistic errors such as intrusive aspirates generally eschewed.^[9] Perhaps the most distinctive technical accomplishment is the singer's mastery of coloratura heard to best effect in his Idreno (Semiramide) and Corradino (Matilde di Shabran).^[10]

Awards and distinctions[link]

Juan Diego Flórez has been recognized by his native country with several awards and distinctions. In May 2004, he received the Orden al Mérito Cultural de Lima, from the Mayor of Lima; the Orden al Mérito por servicios distinguidos en el grado de Gran Cruz from President Alejandro Toledo; and was named an Honorary Professor of San Martín de Porres University. On June 4, 2007, he received his country's highest honor, the Gran Cruz de la Orden El Sol del Perú, from President Alan García.

Flórez also appeared on the 2-sol stamp, part of a series of five stamps honouring contemporary Peruvian musicians issued on November 29, 2004. It is highly unusual for a living opera singer to have been honoured in his home country this way, particularly one so young. (Flórez was 31 at the time).^[11] (The portrait of Flórez used on the stamp was by British photographer, Trevor Leighton,^[12] and was also used for the cover of his 2003 CD Una Furtiva Lagrima.)^[13]

From the classical music world he has received the Premio Abbiati 2000 (awarded by Italian critics for the best singer of the year); the Rossini d'oro; the Bellini d'oro; the Premio Aureliano Pertile; the Tamagno Prize; and the L'Opera award (Migliore Tenore) for his 2001 performance in La sonnambula at La Scala.

In 2009, Flórez was nominated for the Best Classical Vocal Performance in the 52nd Grammy Awards for his album, Bel Canto Spectacular (Decca).^[14]

Personal life[link]

Flórez married German-born Australian^[15] Julia Trappe in a private civil ceremony on April 23, 2007 in Vienna. They held a religious ceremony at the Basilica Cathedral in Lima on April 5, 2008, which some of Peru's greatest celebrities, including President Alan García and author Mario Vargas Llosa, attended.^[16] Flórez was present at the birth of his son, Leandro, who was born on April 9, 2011, less than an hour before Flórez took to the stage in Le comte Ory, broadcast live around the world from the Met.^[17]

Roles sung on stage[link]

Bellini

• I Capuleti e i Montecchi — Tebaldo (student performance)
• I puritani — Arturo
• La sonnambula — Elvino

Donizetti

• Don Pasquale — Ernesto
• Elisabetta — Conte Potoski (concert performance)
• L'elisir d'amore — Nemorino
• La fille du régiment — Tonio
• Maria Stuarda — Leicester

Gluck

• Armide — Le chevalier danois
• Orphée et Eurydice — Orphée (concert performance)

Lehár

• The Merry Widow — Camille de Rosillon (student performance)

Martín y Soler

• Il tutore burlato— Anselmo (concert performance)

Meyerbeer

• L'étoile du nord — Georges

Mozart

• Le nozze di Figaro — Basilio (student performance)

Paisiello

• Nina, o sia, la pazza per amore — Lindoro

Prado

• The Nightingale and the Rose — The student (student performance)

Puccini

• Gianni Schicchi — Rinuccio

Rossini

• Il barbiere di Siviglia — Conte di Almaviva
• La Cenerentola — Don Ramiro
• L'italiana in Algeri — Lindoro
• Matilde di Shabran — Corradino
• Il signor Bruschino — Florville
• Semiramide — Idreno
• Le comte Ory — Comte Ory
• Otello — Rodrigo
• La donna del lago — Giacomo V
• Il viaggio a Reims — Belfiore (student performance) & Libenskof
• Zelmira — Ilo

Rota

• Il cappello di paglia di Firenze — Fadinard

Strauss

• Die Fledermaus — Alfred (student performance)

Verdi

• Falstaff — Fenton
• Rigoletto — Duke of Mantua

Discography[link]

Opera

• Alahor in Granata, Donizetti. Conductor: Josep Pons, CD: Almaviva, 1999
• Il barbiere di Siviglia, Rossini. Conductor: Ralf Weikert CD: Live performance (1997), Nightingale Classics, 2004
• Il barbiere di Siviglia, Rossini. Conductor: Gianluigi Gelmetti, DVD & Blu-ray: Live performance (2005), Decca, 2005
• La Cenerentola, Rossini. Conductor: Carlo Rizzi, CD: Live performance (2000), Rossini Opera Festival & Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Pesaro, 2001
• Le Comte Ory Rossini. Conductor: Jesus Lopez-Cobos, CD: Live performance (2003), Deutsche Grammophon, 2004
• Don Pasquale, Donizetti. Conductor: Maurizio Benini, DVD & Blu-ray: Live performance (2006), Decca, 2007
• L'Etoile du Nord, Meyerbeer. Conductor: Wladimir Jurowski, CD: Marco Polo, 1997
• Falstaff, Verdi. Conductor: Riccardo Muti, DVD: Live performance (2001), EuroArts, 2003
• La Fille du régiment, Donizetti. Conductor: Riccardo Frizza, DVD: Live performance (2005), Decca, 2006
• La Fille du régiment, Donizetti. Conductor: Bruno Campanella, DVD: Live performance (2007), Virgin Classics, 2008
• Matilde di Shabran, Rossini. Conductor: Riccardo Frizza, CD: Live performance (2004), Decca, 2006
• Mitridate, Mozart. Conductor: Christophe Rousset, CD: Decca, 1999
• Nina, o sia La pazza per amore, Paisiello. Conductor: Riccardo Muti, CD: Ricordi, 2000
• Orphée et Eurydice, Gluck. Conductor: Lopez-Cobos, CD: Live performance (2008), Decca, 2010
• Semiramide, Rossini. Conductor Marcello Panni, CD: Nightingale Classics, 2001
• La sonnambula, Bellini. Conductor: Alessandro de Marchi, CD: Decca (2008)
• La sonnambula, Bellini. Conductor: Evelino Pidò, DVD: Live performance (2009), Decca (2010)
• Il tutore burlato, Martin y Soler. Conductor: Miguel Harth-Bedoya, CD: Bongiovanni, 1995

Oratorio & Sacred Music

• Cantatas Vol.2, Rossini. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly, CD: Decca, 2001
• Messa Solenne, Verdi. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly, CD: Decca, 2000
• Stabat Mater, Rossini. Conductor: Gianluigi Gelmetti, CD: Agora, 1998
• Le tre ore dell'agonia del Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo, Niccolò Zingarelli. Conductor: Pierangelo Pelucchi, CD: Agora, 1995

Recital

• Flórez para Chabuca (with Rubén Flórez, his father). Quadrasonic Ideas y Morrison Music & Video.
• Canto al Peru (with Ernesto Palacio). Piano: Samuele Pala, CD: Bongiovanni, 1997
• Rossiniana. Conductor: Manlio Benzi, CD: Agora, 1998
• Vesselina Kasarova Arias & Duets. Conductor: Arthur Fagen, CD: RCA, 1999
• Rossini Arias. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly, CD: Decca, 2002
• Una Furtiva Lagrima, Bellini, Donizetti. Conductor: Riccardo Frizza, CD: Decca, 2003
• Great Tenor Arias, Verdi, Gluck, Rossini. Conductor: Carlo Rizzi, CD: Decca, 2004
• Sentimiento Latino, Spanish & Latin American songs. Conductor: Miguel Harth-Bedoya, CD: Decca, 2006
• Arias for Rubini, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini. Conductor: Roberto Abbado, CD: Decca 2007
• Bel Canto Spectacular, Bellini & Donizetti arias & duets. Conductor: Daniel Oren, CD: Decca 2008

References[link]

Further sources

• Ashley, Tim, 'He's got no strings', The Guardian, 14 March 2002
• Canning, Hugh, 'He'll take the high road', The Sunday Times, 11 November 2001
• Cárdenas, Miguel Ángel, 'Un peruano en la Scala de Milán', La República, 1 September 2002
• Ernesto Palacio Artists Management, Official Biography and Repertory List of Juan Diego Flórez
• Hurwitz, David, 'From Peru to Pesaro — Interview with Juan Diego Flórez', Classics Today, May 2002
• Rodríguez, Gustavo, 'Juan Diego Flórez - Notas de una voz', Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima, 2007, ISBN 978-9972-228-98-8
• Segovia, Emilio, 'La formación de un tenor rossiniano', Pro Ópera, November/December 2003

External links[link]

• Decca Official web site
• "Florezidos" Official fan site
• Management (Ernesto Palacio Artists Management)
• Juan Diego Flórez singing the National Anthem of Peru – Official web site of the Ministry of Defense of Peru.

Saint Juan Diego
Juan Diego by Miguel Cabrera
Born	c. (1474-07-12)July 12, 1474[1] Calpulli of Tlayacac, Cuauhtitlan, Mexico
Died	May 30, 1548(1548-05-30) (aged 73) Tenochtitlan, Mexico City, Mexico
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	April 9, 1990, Vatican City, Rome by Pope John Paul II
Canonized	July 31, 2002, Basilica of Guadalupe, Mexico City, Mexico by Pope John Paul II
Major shrine	Basilica of Guadalupe, Mexico City, Mexico
Feast	December 9
Attributes	tilma

Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin or Juan Diego (1474–May 30, 1548) was, according to Mexican Catholic tradition, an indigenous Mexican who reported a Marian apparition, Our Lady of Guadalupe, in 1531. The apparition has had a significant impact on the spread of the Catholic faith within Mexico. The Roman Catholic Church canonized him in 2002, as its first indigenous American saint.

The reality of Juan Diego's existence has been questioned by a number of experts on the early religious history of New Spain including Bernardino de Sahagun, Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta, Stafford Poole, Louise Burkhart and David Brading, who argue that there is a complete lack of sources about Juan Diego's existence prior to the publication of the Nican Mopohua a century later, in 1649 (they do not accept the validity of the Codex Escalada as historical evidence).^[2] Notwithstanding these doubts, the findings of an interdisciplinary study, by nearly two dozen experts involving a prominent Mexican university and a noted American scholar of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican linguistics and anthropology, all indicated authenticity of the document and 16th century origin.^[3][4]

Sources[link]

This section cites its sources but does not provide page references. You can help to improve it by introducing citations that are more precise.

The two primary sources to the life of Juan Diego are from 1648 and 1649. The first account, Imagen de la Virgen Maria, Madre de Dios de Guadalupe, Milagrosamente aparecida en la Ciudad de México, was written in Spanish by the priest Miguel Sánchez. It relates how Juan Diego witnessed the apparitions, how he informed Bishop Zumárraga, the miracles of the tilmahtli and the roses, the apparition to Juan Bernardino (Juan Diego's uncle), and how the shrine to Guadalupe was instated. According to contemporary sources this was the first time the apparition story was told to a wide audience.^[5] Some historians have suggested that Sánchez built his account on an indigenous oral tradition local to the area, a variant of the earlier legend of the appearance of the Virgin of Los Remedios.^[6] The Virgin of Remedios was a popular saint to whom several miraculous curings were attributed, among them the curing of an indigenous herdsman near Tepeyac and of a construction worker in Tacuba. The stories of the Virgen de Guadalupe and Virgen de Los Remedios have several similarities, and have often been confused. Historians have suggested that the Nican Mopohua can be understood as a variation of the legend of the miracle of the Virgin de los Remedios.^[7]

The second source which is more famous than Sánchez' and goes into more detail about Juan Diego is the Huei tlamahuiçoltica (which include "Nican Mopohua") written in Classical Nahuatl by Mexican priest and lawyer Luis Laso de la Vega and published in 1649.

The historic veracity of both sources are considered questionable by many historians.^[8] The primary doubts arise in the dearth of sources about the apparition and consequently about Juan Diego in the 117 years between the time given for the apparition and the first publication of the story. Also the fact that the story was described as being previously unknown by those who read its first publication. Furthermore the fact that Bishop Zúmarraga who figures as a prominent character in the account has not left any mention of either Juan Diego or the apparition in his otherwise ample correspondence is a problem for the credibility of the accounts.^[9] The problems with the historicity of Juan Diego was recognized as early as 1883 by Joaquín García Icazbalceta historian and the biographer of Archbishop Juan de Zumárraga, in private letter to the Mexican Bishop Icazbalceta concluded that there was no historical basis for the character of Juan Diego.

In 1995 a deer skin codex pictorially demonstrating the apparition and the life of Juan Diego appeared in the possession of Xavier Escalada, a Jesuit writing an encyclopedia of the Guadalupan tradition. This unprovenanced document, previously unknown to historians and archivists, became referred to as the Codex Escalada. This was at a time when the process of canonization was at a halt and historians and theologians were beginning to voice doubts about the veracity of the legend. The Codex seemed to provide ineffable proof of the historicity of the accounts of Sánchez and Laso de la Vega. To further strengthen its force of proof it bore the signatures of the important historical figures Antonio Valeriano and Bernardino de Sahagún which seemed to date it unequivocally to the mid 16th century around the time of the apparition. The sheer timing of the Codex' appearance was seen by some historians as suspicious, and the source is not regarded by them as an historical document but rather a fabrication.^{[page needed][10]} The Codex, however, was studied by approximately twenty experts in various specialties, including the Physics Institute of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and anthropologist, linguist, and scholar of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, Charles E. Dibble of the University of Utah, as well by experts in graphology from the Bank of Mexico; the findings all indicate authenticity of the document and 16th century origin.^[3][4]

Life[link]

According to the Nican Mopohua, Juan Diego was born in 1474 in the calpulli of Tlayacac in Cuautitlán, a small Indian village some 20 km (12mi) to the north of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). Another source indicated that Juan Diego was born on July 12, 1474.^[11]

His original or birth name was Cuauhtlatoatzin^[12] (alternately rendered as Quauhtatoatzin, Guauhtlatoatzin, or Cuatliztactzin), which has been translated as "Talking Eagle" in the Nahuatl language.

Conversion to Catholicism[link]

A farmer, landowner and weaver of mats, he witnessed the Spanish conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés in 1521, when he was 47 years old. Following the invasion, in 1524, the first 12 Franciscan missionaries arrived in what is now Mexico City.

Cuauhtlatoatzin and his wife welcomed the Franciscans in 1524 or 1525 and were among the first to be baptized — he taking the Christian name of Juan Diego; she, Maria Lucia. Later, they moved to Tolpetlac to be closer to Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) and the Catholic mission that had been set up by the Franciscan friars.

According to his legend, after hearing a sermon on the virtue of chastity, they reportedly decided to live chaste lives^{[citation needed]} . This decision was later cited as a possible reason for which the Virgin Mary chose to appear to Juan Diego^{[citation needed]} . In 1529, a few years after her baptism, Maria Lucia became sick and died. According to Sánchez' account Juan Diego and his wife had lived in celibacy for their entire lives; this would be extraordinary since he lived the first 47 years of his life according to pre-Columbian indigenous customs that only prescribed celibacy for the highest priesthood. The Nican Mopohua adds the detail about his celibacy beginning after his first sermon. Juan Diego found the Virgin Mary when he was 57.^[9]

Apparition on Tepeyac Hill[link]

As a widower, Juan Diego walked every Saturday and Sunday to church, and on cold mornings, wore a woven cloth called a tilma, or ayate made with coarse fibers from the maguey cactus for cotton was only used by the upper class Aztec.

On Saturday morning, December 9, 1531, he reported the following: As he was walking to church, he heard the sound of birds singing on Tepeyac hill and someone calling his name. He ran up the hill, and there saw a Lady, about fourteen years of age, resembling an Aztec princess in appearance, and surrounded by light. The Lady spoke to him in Nahuatl, his native tongue. She called him “Xocoyte,” her little son. He responded by calling her “Xocoyote,” his youngest child. The Lady asked Juan Diego to tell the bishop of Mexico, a Franciscan named Juan de Zumárraga, that she wanted a “teocalli,” a shrine, to be built on the spot where she stood, in her honor, where:

"I will demonstrate, I will exhibit, I will give all my love, my compassion, my help and my protection to the people. I am your merciful mother, the merciful mother of all of you who live united in this land, and of all mankind, of all those who love me , of those who cry to me, of those who seek me, of those who have confidence in me. Here I will hear their weeping, their sorrow and will remedy and alleviate all their multiple sufferings, necessities and misfortunes."

Recognizing the Lady as the Virgin Mary, Juan Diego went to the bishop as instructed, but the Spanish bishop, Fray Juan de Zumárraga was doubtful and told Juan Diego he needed a sign. Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac hill and explained to the Lady that the bishop did not believe him. He implored the Lady to use another messenger, insisting he was not worthy. The Lady however insisted that it was of the utmost importance that it be Diego speaking to the bishop on her behalf. On Sunday, Juan Diego did as the Lady directed, but again the bishop asked for a sign. Later that day, the Lady promised Juan Diego she would give him a sign the following day.

According to the Nican Mopohua, he returned home that night to his uncle Juan Bernardino’s house, and discovered him seriously ill. The next morning, December 12, Juan Diego decided not to meet with the Lady, but to find a priest who could administer the last rites to his dying uncle. When he tried to skirt around Tepeyac hill, the Lady intercepted him, assured him his uncle would not die, and asked him to climb the hill and gather the flowers he found there. It was December, when normally nothing blooms in the cold. There, Diego's miracle of the roses occurred: he found roses from the region of Castille in Spain, former home of bishop Zumárraga. The Lady re-arranged the roses carefully inside the folded tilma that Juan Diego wore and told him not to open it before anyone but the bishop. When Juan Diego unfolded his tilma before the Bishop roses cascaded from his tilma, and an icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously impressed on the cloth, bringing the bishop to his knees.

According to the Nican Mopohua Zumárraga acknowledged the miracle and within two weeks, ordered a shrine to be built where the Virgin Mary had appeared. The bishop then entrusted the image to Juan Diego, who chose to live, until his death at about the age of 73 — on May 30, 1548 — as a hermit near the spot where the Virgin Mary had appeared. From his hermitage he cared for the chapel and the first pilgrims who came to pray there, propagating the account of the apparitions in Mexico.

No records prior to 1648 exist showing that Bishop Zumárraga acknowledged the miracle or that he even knew of it.^[13]

Impact on Mexico and the Catholic Church[link]

This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Please help to ensure that disputed facts are reliably sourced. See the relevant discussion on the talk page. (September 2007)

According to the traditional account, the original image of Our lady of Guadalupe miraculously appeared on the cloak of Juan Diego, on the hill of Tepeyac near Mexico City on December 12, 1531.

News of the apparition on Tepayac Hill spread quickly through Mexico; and in the seven years that followed, 1532 through 1538, the Indian people accepted the Spaniards and 8 million people were converted to the Catholic faith.

According to Daniel Lynch, director of the Apostolate of the Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, “An amazing thing happened. Indians became reconciled to Spaniards. And we had a new race of people. Mixed blood. We called them "Mestizos". Our Lady of Guadalupe had appeared as a Mestiza. They call her the dark virgin, the little brown one.”

Our Lady of Guadalupe, as the Virgin Mary came to be known in this context, still underpins the faith of many Catholics in Mexico and the rest of Latin America, and she is recognized as patron saint of all the Americas.

Interestingly, the years 1532 to 1538 which saw a large number of people join the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico based on Juan Diego's vision, were right in the midst of the period of Protestant Reformation in Europe. Hence as a large number of people left the Catholic Church in Europe, a large number of new Catholics appeared in Mexico, maintaining the overall strength of the Catholic Church. To this day, Latin America remains a major pillar of the Catholic Church.

Investigations, canonization and symbolism[link]

Juan Diego was recognized by the Church soon after the apparition. He expressed a deep love for the Holy Eucharist, and by special permission of the Bishop he received Holy Communion three times a week, a highly unusual occurrence in those times.

In 1667, a Church investigation into the establishment of a feast day produced a document known as the Informaciones Jurídicas de 1666, purporting to gather information from informants whom had had some connection with Juan Diego. In 1723 a formal investigation into his life was ordered by Archbishop Lanziego y Equilaz.

Veneration[link]

On January 9, 1987, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints declared Juan Diego venerable. Pope John Paul II beatified him on May 6, 1990, during a Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, declaring December 9 Juan Diego's feast day, one day after Immaculate Conception and invoking him as “protector and advocate of the indigenous peoples.”

Controversy over the historical authenticity of Juan Diego was stirred in 1996 by Father Guillermo Schulenburg, a longtime abbot of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who called Juan Diego a mythical character.

The Vatican subsequently established a commission of 30 researchers from various countries to investigate the question. The commission's view was that Juan Diego had indeed existed, and the results of their research were presented to the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints on October 28, 1998. Among research documents submitted at that time were 27 Guadalupe Indian documents.

Canonization[link]

Juan Diego was canonized by Pope John Paul II on July 31, 2002.^[14] Pope John Paul II praised Juan Diego for his simple faith nourished by catechesis and pictured him (who said to the Blessed Virgin Mary: "I am a nobody, I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf") as a model of humility.

Symbolism[link]

By 1820, when the Mexican War of Independence from Spanish colonial rule ended, Our Lady of Guadalupe had come to symbolize the Mexican nation. The armies of both Miguel Hidalgo in 1810 and Emiliano Zapata in 1914 flew Guadalupan flags. The first president of Mexico adopted the name "Guadalupe Victoria" during the fight for independence from Spain. Today, the Virgin of Guadalupe remains a strong national and religious symbol in Mexico.

Many Mexicans also see the canonization of Juan Diego as a symbolic victory in the movement for greater recognition of their heritage reflected in the Catholic religion; Pope John Paul II held a Mass in Mexico that borrowed from Aztec traditions, including a reading from the Bible in Nahuatl. The Pope urged the Catholic Church in Mexico to be respectful of indigenous traditions and to incorporate them into religious ceremonies when appropriate.

Controversy over official depiction[link]

There was controversy over the official image of Juan Diego selected by the Archdiocese of Mexico City in 2002. Critics feel that it depicts Juan Diego as having European features rather than the features of a Mexican Indian. Church officials responded that the depiction reflected the current ethnic make-up of Mexico.^[15]

See also[link]

• Our Lady of Guadalupe
• Miracle of the roses

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sancta.org: Saint Juan Diego
• Biography from the Holy See for Juan Diegos Canonization
• Juan Diego at the Rosary Workshop
• Latin America's Indigenous Saint Stirs Anger, Pride, LA Times, July 30, 2002