Tenor helps deliver his own baby... just half an hour before taking to the stage at the Met
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 2:25 PM on 10th April 2011
Most opera singers practise scales just before a major live performance.
But international tenor Juan Diego Flórez joined two mid-wives to assist his wife as she gave birth to their son, Leandro, just 35 minutes before the curtain went up on a performance being screened live around the world.
The 38-year-old Peruvian had stayed up all night with his wife, Julia, after she went into labour at their rented apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Warm up: Juan Diego Flórez assisted in the birth of his first child, Leandro, 35 minutes before the curtain went up on his performance of Rossini's Le Comte Ory
While the couple awaited the birth of their first child, the world waited for the renowned performer to sing the tenor lead in Rossini’s comic opera Le Comte Ory at the nearby Metropolitan Opera.
The baby came into the world at 12:25pm on Saturday, just in time for his father to hold him for a minute before rushing to the Met for his 1pm performance.
But despite the rush, Mr Flórez described the birth as ‘calm’.
‘It was beautiful,’ he said. ‘It was a home birth with a pool, in the water. It was very nice and very calm.’
‘I gave the baby to Julia,’ said Mr Flórez in an interview after the performance. ‘I was so sad to leave.’
Renowned tenor: Mr Flórez's performance at the Met in New York was screened live around the world. He described the birth as 'calm'
‘I didn’t sleep all night, but I’m so happy.’
Mrs Flórez and Leandro are said to be doing well and are getting follow up care at Manhattan's Roosevelt Hospital.
Mr Flórez married his German-born Australian wife Julia in a private civil ceremony in Vienna in 2007.
The couple then had a religious ceremony a year later at the Basilica Cathedral in Lima, which was attended by some of Peru’s biggest celebrities, including President Alan García.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1375412/Tenor-Juan-Diego-Fl-rez-delivers-baby-30-minutes-taking-stage-Met.html#ixzz1J9CAexnp
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