Friday, March 13, 2015

Tenors Anyone? Opera Singers That Love The Game Of Tennis

Love All: Grigolo (left) and Flórez go head-to-head on the court during some time off from the MET.
Tenors Juan Diego Flórez and Vittorio Grigolo took a break from their current performing schedule at the Metropolitan Opera to hit the courts for a friendly game of tennis. Mr. Flórez, a Rossini specialist who starred in the MET's first performances of the composer's La Donna del Lago, posted the image of the two men on his Facebook page. This isn't the first time that the worlds of tennis and opera have come together. Two instances are here and here. And tenor Lawrence Brownlee has proclaimed his enthusiasm for tennis; soprano Amelia Farrugia keeps stamina up for the stage by playing tennis in downtime; baritone Michael Chioldi has been known to pick up the racket to stay in shape;  soprano Julianna Di Giacomo grew up playing tennis; tenor Enrico Caruso didn't fair so well lasting through one set; soprano Kiri Te Kanawa keeps busy with a myriad of sports that includes tennis; bass-baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes built his physique on the game of tennis; soprano Mary Garden had advice for her friend and tennis player Bill Tilden; and tenor Ivan Kozlovsky kept his health up with the sport. It's not the only sport that cross-pollinates opera with athletics, click here for more. See more photos of opera singers with tennis champions after the jump.
Tennis champions Rafael Nadal (left) and David Ferrer on the stage of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain.


Opera soprano Natalie Dessay and tennis champion Carlos Moya
 at the U.S. Open (Photo: Elena Parks/MET)

Opera soprano Natalie Dessay and tennis champion Novak Djokovic 
at the U.S. Open (Photo: Elena Parks/MET)


Tennis stars Rafael Nadal (left) and David Ferrer on stage at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, 
Spain for a promotional match. See more photos at http://www.atpworldtour.com/

Tennis champion Novak Djokovic (left) and opera tenor Vittorio Grigolo

Tennis champion Roger Federer (left) with opera tenor Vittorio Grigolo