“He sang in a manner that was just about perfect…All six pieces on the program were graced by Villazón’s beautiful timbre, his lyricism, but also his astonishingly exact coloratura…This tenor is simply a great artist.”
Der Kurier (Vienna)
Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón is one of today’s most acclaimed and stylistically versatile artists. He has appeared at many of the world’s most prestigious stages, from the Metropolitan Opera and La Scala to the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, London’s Royal Opera House, and the Salzburg Festival. Having begun his career with triumphs in bel canto, Verdi, Puccini, and French Romantic roles, he has in recent years taken on an increasingly diverse repertoire. Among his recent operatic appearances have been Ferrando in Così fan tutte (La Scala), Lurcanio in Ariodante (Salzburg), Michel in Martinů’s Juliette (Berlin), Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande (Hamburg), and the title roles of Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées), and L’Orfeo (seven-city European tour with the early-music ensemble L’Arpeggiata). An exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon since 2007, Villazón has recorded more than 20 award-winning CDs and DVDs and has sold more than 2 million albums worldwide. In 2010 Villazón made his directing debut in Lyon, subsequently creating productions for the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the Vienna Volksoper. Recent successes as a director include L’elisir d’amore (Leipzig) and a new production of I puritani (Düsseldorf). Villazón is the author of three novels and holds the rank of Chévalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, received from the French government. In early 2017 he was appointed ambassador of the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation and later that year he was named Artistic Director of the Salzburg Mozart Week from 2019 onwards.
