Rolando Villazón

Rolando Villazón Mauleón (born 22 February 1972) is a Mexican operatic tenor, stage director, author, radio and television personality and artistic director. He now lives in France, and in 2007 became a French citizen.

Villazón has published several books, including the novels ''Malabares'' and ''Paladas de sombra contra la oscuridad'' which have been translated into French and German. He is a member of the Collège de 'Pataphysique in Paris.

Early life

He was raised in Fuentes de Satélite, a suburban area of Greater Mexico City, Mexico. In an interview for Mexican television, Villazón told the story of how he was discovered as a tenor. He said that one day, as he was getting out of the shower in his apartment in Mexico City, somebody came knocking on his door; it was baritone Arturo Nieto, a friend of his neighbour, who had heard him singing while in the shower. He told Rolando he had an amazing voice and invited him to his music academy to develop his voice; it was there that Villazón fell in love with opera.

Career

Late 1990s and early 2000s

He came to international attention in 1999 when he won second prize in Plácido Domingo's Operalia competition (losing to Bulgarian bass Orlin Anastassov), as well as the first Zarzuela prize and the audience prize. The same year he sang for the first time in Italy as des Grieux in ''Manon'' at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. In 2000 he appeared for the first time at the Berlin State Opera, as Macduff in ''Macbeth''. Over the years he has presented many of his best roles there, among them José in ''Carmen'' and des Grieux in ''Manon''.

In Munich in 2000 he sang Rodolfo in ''La bohème'' and in 2002 in Los Angeles, Rinuccio in ''Gianni Schicchi''. In 2003 he sang Rodolfo at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in England. He also enjoyed success in the title role of ''Les Contes d'Hoffmann'' at London's Royal Opera House. The following year he appeared as Alfredo in ''La traviata'' at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and in 2005, both at St. Petersburg and the Salzburg Festival.

2005–2010

Rolando Villazón performed regularly in the world's most important opera houses and in concert. In August 2005, he sang a highly regarded Alfredo in Verdi's ''La traviata'' at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Carlo Rizzi, directed by Willy Decker. Co-starring was Anna Netrebko as Violetta. They also appeared together in a performance of Donizetti's ''L'elisir d'amore'' at the Vienna State Opera which was released on DVD. He starred alongside Netrebko and Domingo in globally televised concerts from Berlin's Waldbühne and Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace in 2006 and 2008.

Vocal surgery and the return to the stage

Between 2007 and 2009, Villazón cancelled many of his scheduled engagements in order to diagnose and remedy a persistent vocal issue. In May 2009, Rolando Villazón announced that he had to undergo surgery in order to remove a congenital cyst in one of his vocal cords.

After completing his rehabilitation, he returned to the stage in March 2010 singing Nemorino in ''L'elisir d'amore'' at the Vienna State Opera in March 2010, and then embarked on a series of recitals. In December 2012, he appeared as Rodolfo in ''La bohème'' at London's Royal Opera House, a role he first sang there in 2005.

Beginning in 2010, Villazón has undertaken a number of Mozart tenor roles both in concert and in operatic performances, notably Don Ottavio in Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'' at the Festspiel Baden-Baden, the Royal Opera House and the Staatsoper Berlin, the role of Alessandro in Mozart's ''Il re pastore'' under William Christie at Zürich Opera House and the Salzburg Festival and Lucio Silla at the Salzburg Festival. His first all-Mozart solo album featuring the composer's concert arias for tenor was released in January 2014.

2015 - today

Rolando Villazón continues to perform on the world's leading stages and has added numerous diverse roles to his repertoire in recent years. In 2016, he made his debut in Bohuslav Martinů's opera "Juliette ou la clé des songes" in a new production conducted by Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera. That year also sang his first highly acclaimed L'Orfeo, a role he sings in new productions at Semperoper Dresden and Santa Fe Opera in 2023.

In 2017, he sang his first Ulisse in Claudio Monteverdi's opera Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria in Paris. He made a further role debut as Pelléas in Claude Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande (opera) in 2018, again conducted by Barenboim. In 2021, he returned to New York's Metropolitan Opera as Papageno. In 2022, Rolando Villazón made his internationally acclaimed debut as Loge in Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold at Berlin State Opera in a new production by Dmitri Tcherniakov and conducted by Christian Thielemann.

In 2018, Rolando Villazón was named artistic director of the Mozartwoche festival and later the International Mozarteum Foundation. His contract has been extended until 2028.

Stage Direction

He made his debut as a stage director with a new production of ''Werther'' at the Opéra de Lyon in January 2011. Since then, he has directed L'elisir d'amore at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden (2012) and Oper Leipzig (2019), Viva la Mamma at Vienna Volksoper (2015), La rondine at Deutsche Oper Berlin (2015), La traviata at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden (2015), Die Fledermaus at Deutsche Oper Berlin (2018), La sonnambula at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (2021) and The Barber of Seville at the Salzburg Festival (2022).

Recording Career and Television Appearances

In addition to his appearances on the opera stage, he maintains an active recording career. He has recorded four solo CDs with Virgin Classics and is additionally featured, along with Patrizia Ciofi and Topi Lehtipuu, on the recording of ''Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda'' by Claudio Monteverdi, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm. An album of zarzuelas ('' Gitano'', Virgin Classics) conducted by Plácido Domingo, was released in Spring 2007. The U.S. version of his album ''Viva Villazón'' (Virgin Classics) was released in September 2007. Villazón sang "La Prima Luce" on the 2014 Yanni/Plácido Domingo/Ric Wake collaboration album ''Inspirato.''

In 2007, Villazón switched his recording company and signed an exclusive long-term contract with Deutsche Grammophon. For DG, Rolando Villazón has recorded over 20 CDs and DVDs so far which have received numerous prizes. His discography includes leading roles in complete recordings of six operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

In early 2010 he was a mentor and judge in the ITV show ''Popstar to Operastar''. From 2012 - 2015, he was the host of the German Echo Klassik awards. Since 2011, he has hosted his own programme on Arte TV, featuring the "Stars of tomorrow". He presents a daily show on Germany's Klassik Radio and hosted a show on France's Radio Classique.

Discography

*''Romeo y Julieta'' CD (2002), Radio Televisión Española
*''Der Fliegende Holländer'' CD (2002), Teldec Classics
*''Berlioz: La Révolution Grecque'' CD (2004), EMI Classics
*''Italian Opera Arias'' CD (2004), Virgin Classics
*''Gounod & Massenet Arias'' CD (2005), Virgin Classics
*''Tristan und Isolde'' CDs and DVD (2005), EMI Classics
*''Don Carlo'' 2 DVDs (2005), Opus Arte
*''La Traviata'' CD (2005), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Merry Christmas'' (Soundtrack) CD (2005), Virgin Classics
*''Opera Recital'' CD; bonus edition with DVD (2006), Virgin Classics
*''La Traviata'' DVD; premium 2-DVD edition (behind the scenes, rehearsals, introduction to the opera etc.) (2006), Salzburger Festspiele 2005, Deutsche Grammophon
*''La Bohème'' DVD (2006), Bregenzer Festspiele 2002, ORF + Capriccio
*''Monteverdi: Il Combattimento'' CD; bonus edition with DVD (2006), Virgin Classics
*''Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore'' DVD (2006), Virgin Classics
*''The Berlin Concert: Live from the Waldbühne'' DVD (2006), Deutsche Grammophon
*'' Gitano'' CD; bonus edition with DVD (February 2007), Virgin Classics
*''Duets'' featuring Rolando Villazón and Anna Netrebko CD; bonus edition with DVD (March 2007), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Viva Villazón'' – Rolando Villazón – Best-of-CD (2007), Virgin Classics
*''La Bohème'' Live recording CD (two disk set) (2008), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Cielo e Mar'' CD (2008), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Romeo et Juliette'' 2 DVDs (Salzburger Festspiele 2008) (2009), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Georg Friedrich Händel'' CD/CD+DVD,(2009) Deutsche Grammophon
*''La Bohème'' DVD (2009)
*'' ¡México!'' 2010
*''Vivaldi: Ercole sul Termodonte'' with Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante, CD (2010), Erato
*''La Strada - Songs from the movies'' CD (2011), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Don Giovanni'' CD (2012), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Villazón Verdi'' CD (2012), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Werther'' CD (2012), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Cosi fan tutte'' CD (2013), Deutsche Grammophon
*''L'elisir d'amore'' DVD (2014), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' CD (2015), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Treasures of Belcanto'' CD (2015), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Messiah'' CD (2016) with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square
*''Le Nozze di Figaro'' CD (2016), Deutsche Grammophon
*'' O Come Little Children'' (2017)
*''Duets'' CD (2017), Deutsche Grammophon
*''La Clemenza di Tito'' CD (2018), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Feliz Navidad'' CD (2018), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Die Zauberflöte'' CD (2019), Deutsche Grammophon
*''Serenata Latina'' CD (2020), Deutsche Grammophon

References

External links

*
Official page on Deutsche Grammophon

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villazon, Rolando
1972 births
Living people
People from Naucalpan
EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists
Mexican operatic tenors
20th-century Mexican male opera singers
21st-century Mexican male opera singers
Deutsche Grammophon artists
Operalia, The World Opera Competition prize-winners
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Singers from Mexico City
Mexican emigrants to France
Naturalized citizens of France
Pataphysicians
Opera directors