Juan Pons facts for kids
Joan Pons Álvarez (born in Ciutadella, Spain, on August 8, 1946) is a famous Spanish opera singer. He is known around the world as Juan Pons. He sings in a deep male voice range called a baritone. Juan Pons is especially famous for his roles in operas by the composer Giuseppe Verdi.
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Juan Pons' Amazing Career
Juan Pons started his international singing career in 1980. His first big performance was at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. He sang the role of Falstaff in the opera Falstaff. This show was directed by Giorgio Strehler and led by Lorin Maazel.
Since then, Juan Pons has sung in many of the world's most important opera houses. These include the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. He also performed at the Vienna Staatsoper, Covent Garden in London, and the Opéra in Paris. Other famous places he sang were in Zürich, the Liceo in Barcelona, and the Arena of Verona.
Famous Opera Roles
Juan Pons has sung many of the main baritone roles in opera. He is well-known for playing Falstaff, a role he performed again in 1993 at La Scala. This was for the 100th anniversary of the opera's first show.
He has sung in many important operas by Giuseppe Verdi. Some of these include Il trovatore, Aida, Rigoletto, La traviata, and Nabucco. He also performed in Pagliacci by Leoncavallo and Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni.
Juan Pons has also sung in operas by Giacomo Puccini. These include Tosca, Gianni Schicchi, and Madama Butterfly. He has even performed in some less common operas like Aroldo and La fiamma.
Performances at the Metropolitan Opera
By 2011, Juan Pons had sung 337 times at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. This shows how often he performed there.
In the 1997–98 season, he was in a show called Sly with José Carreras. He also sang in La Cena delle Beffe by Giordano. Both of these shows were at the Zurich Opera. He also sang in Aida at the Teatro Real in Madrid.
In the summer of 1998, he performed in Pagliacci with Plácido Domingo. This show was directed by Liliana Cavani and led by Riccardo Muti at the Ravenna Festival. He returned to this festival in 2001 to sing Falstaff again.
Recent Performances
In 2002, Juan Pons performed in Sly and Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera House. He also sang in Madama Butterfly in Tokyo. In Paris, he performed in Simon Boccanegra at the Opéra Bastille.
His performances in 2003 included Madama Butterfly in Florence. He also sang in Andrea Chénier and Simon Boccanegra in Turin. He performed in La Gioconda and Don Carlos in Zurich. He sang Otello in Tokyo and Aida in Barcelona.
During 2004, he was very busy. He sang in Aida, Rigoletto, Cavalleria rusticana, and Pagliacci at the Metropolitan Opera. He also performed Macbeth in Barcelona. He sang Madama Butterfly at the Arena of Verona and at the Torre del Lago Puccini Festival. He even toured Japan with the Puccini Festival. He also performed La traviata in Zurich. Finally, he sang Aida, Nabucco, and Tosca at the Vienna Staatsoper.
In 2005, he recorded Puccini's Edgar with Plácido Domingo. This recording was released by Deutsche Grammophon.
Videos of Juan Pons
- James Levine's 25th Anniversary Metropolitan Opera Gala (1996), Deutsche Grammophon DVD, B0004602-09
See also
In Spanish: Juan Pons para niños
