Internationally acclaimed Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez returned to Australian shores, kicking off a three-city tour at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Hamer Hall on Saturday evening and bringing his mix of elegance, sincerity and unassuming persuasive power.

Demonstrating what a world-class artist he is, and how comfortable he is with his craft, Flórez let the evening’s thoughtfully curated program unfold with a naturalness in which even the most demanding moments felt effortless.

In the vastness of Hamer Hall, only Flórez and pianist Vincenzo Scalera at the grand piano occupied the broad stage – a spareness heightened by an audience sadly at barely three-quarter capacity. Nevertheless, the duo quickly created a warmth and intimacy that bound the space and bridged the distance with ease.

Juan Diego Floréz. Photo © Melboune Recital Centre

The program began with the pastoral calm of “Le sylvain” – a subtle salon gem from Rossini’s later Paris years, written in his retirement. Characterised by a mood of unmistakable pleading, it was well suited to Flórez’s diaphanous phrasing, unbroken legato and upper notes of luminous beauty.

Moving on to three Bellini ariette (short, simple arias), Flórez continued with works that exemplified introspective storytelling. The first of Bellini’s Sei Ariette, “Malinconia, ninfa gentile”, was delivered with sweet delicacy. In “Vanne, o rosa fortunata”, another of the Sei Ariette, with text by the great opera seria librettist Pietro Metastasio, Flórez brought inviting spatial openness and restrained nobility to poetry that tells of a speaker imagining himself transformed into a rose and lamenting unrequited love. “La ricordanza” – Bellini’s early treatment of melodic ideas he would later refine in I puritani – followed, and Flórez traced its arching beauty with unhurried, glowing lyricism.

Scalera’s piano accompaniment was superb, and his excellent musicianship similarly took the spotlight. As part of a series of punctuating piano solos that provided texture and contrast – not to mention a brief vocal reprieve for Flórez – Scalera’s first solo, the lightly toned “Arietta: Almen se non poss’io”, was shaped with a smooth, transparent touch, giving the miniature piece appealing lilt and charm.

In a slight shift of emotional intensity, Flórez returned with a searing account of Donizetti’s “Ah! Rammenta, o bella Irene” – a deeply expressive cavatina intended for salon recital, outlining the anguish and longing of a broken heart. Flórez’s warm vocal elasticity and smooth register shifts shone through. But it was the first part’s finale, “Ed ancora la tremenda porta … Come uno spirito angelico” from the composer’s Roberto Devereux – in which the titular character faces imminent death – that revealed the elevated fire of burning passion and the bel canto intensity of which Flórez is a master.

Juan Diego Floréz. Photo © Melboune Recital Centre

After the interval, the sound palette altered with a move into Spanish repertoire and a bite-sized showcase of zarzuela – a Spanish form of musical theatre combining singing, spoken dialogue and dancing. With its wooing sense of line, Flórez delivered Reveriano Soutullo and Juan Vert’s “Bella enamorada” from their 1928 El último romántico with melting suavity and understated sentiment. Rhythmic suppleness and entertaining playfulness of phrasing followed in an exuberant highlight – Agustín Pérez Soriano’s dance-like “Suena, guitarrico mío” from the 1900 comic work El guitarrico. José Serrano’s “Aquí está quien lo tiene tó y no tiene ná”, from his 1909 La alegría del batallón, brought a display of theatrical wit and finely contoured meanderings.

Scalera followed, adding glittering virtuosity with Cuban composer and pianist Ernesto Lecuona’s fabulously zippy early-20th-century “Mazurka glissando”, before Flórez turned to two compositions from major figures of French Romantic opera, Massenet and Gounod.

For Massenet’s despairingly themed “Ah, tout est bien fini… Ô souverain, Ô juge, ô père”, for the tenor role of Rodrigue in the 1885 Le Cid, Flórez introduced a dignified, almost solemn tone — nuanced, poetic, resonant and articulated with impeccable French diction.

In Gounod’s “Quel trouble inconnu me pénètre… Salut! Demeure chaste et pure”, from Faust (1859), Flórez infused Faust’s awed contemplation of Marguerite’s innocence with a glowing timbre and finely controlled lyricism that built toward Everest highs while maintaining perfectly buttressed shape.

Scalera then offered a tender, brooding account of a piano arrangement of Benjamin Godard’s cradle song “Berceuse” from his long-forgotten opera Jocelyn, before Flórez closed the formal program with a piece by François-Adrien Boieldieu, often referred to as the “French Mozart”. Fearlessly discharging soaring high notes with utmost elegance and showcasing an arresting, jewel-like tremolo, Flórez brought stylistic refinement, classical poise and finishing polish to the aria “Viens, gentille dame” from La dame blanche (1825).

Six encores kept the audience enthralled, and Flórez was clearly revelling in the personal connection he had nurtured along the way. Donizetti’s “Ah! mes amis” from La fille du régiment opened them with dazzling athleticism. Sung with guitar, a Peruvian waltz honoured his heritage, meeting warm recognition from compatriots in attendance.

One of the evening’s most affecting moments came with an intimate, near–tear-provoking rendition of “Cucurrucucú paloma”, a familiar Mexican song written by Tomás Méndez in 1954 and used in several film soundtracks. “Be My Love”, the Mario Lanza hit from the early 1950s and the night’s only English-language work, was delivered with nostalgic warmth. Finally came a bursting, airborne account of the popular “La donna è mobile” from Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Supported by the unfailing sensitivity of Scalera, Flórez offered Melbourne a special night of abundant artistic expression, effortless charm and impeccable tenorial radiance. Would a third visit be too greedy to hope for?

Hear Juan Diego Flórez in Recital on 1 December, Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, and 3 December, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide.