Juan Diego Florez returned to the stage last night at Auditorium Paganini in Parma after almost 2 months of rest and a painful cancellation (his Chicago Barbiere) due to a throat infection caused, incredibly enough, by having accidentally swallowed a fishbone: a friend of OC present in the sold-out venue reports that JDF, singing with a full orchestra (the Sinfonica Toscanini), was awarded four standing ovations by the audience and gave an encore of his signature "Ah mes amis" aria from La Fille du Regiment complete with monster high C's (he had already sung the aria during the recital, gave it again as an encore, thus destroying the world record for most high C's in a single night). The rest of the recital was the usual JDF awesomeness, L'Elisir, Rigoletto, Orphée.
Now it's on to Lima; there's a wedding on April 5. With Bryan Adams, too.
What can OC add? She'd just like Maestro Ernesto Palacio to take over her life and manage all her activities: which DVDs to rent, what to order for lunch at Girarrosto (ribollita or artichoke & grana?), streetcar or subway, Louboutin or McQueen. Hope us maestro become a supasta.