Rolando Villazón Tenor

Biography

Born in Mexico City, Rolando Villazón began his musical studies at his native country's National Conservatory before joining the junior programmes of the Pittsburgh Opera and the San Francisco Opera. He won the Zarzuela prize and the audience prize at the Operalia Plácido Domingo competition in 1999. In the same year, he made his European debut in the role of Des Grieux (Manon) in Genoa, followed by that of Macduff (Macbeth) in Berlin. Since then, he has been regularly invited to perform on the major international opera stages.

In 2011, he made his first foray into stage directing with Werther at the Opéra national de Lyon. Since then, he has directed numerous works, including, recently, Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Salzburg Festival. Rolando Villazón has been awarded the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Republic.

His first novel Malabares was published in 2013, followed by Lebenskünstler in 2017 and Amadeus auf dem Fahrrad in 2020. He presented his own series "Stars of Tomorrow" on Arte and can be heard daily on Klassik Radio. In 2017, he was appointed ambassador of the Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg, of which he is currently the artistic director.

During the 2024-2025 season, Rolando Villazón makes his title role debut in Idomeneo at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, performs L'Orfeo in Salzburg and plays Gabriel Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) at the Theater St. Gallen. He performs in concerts all over the world, notably for the programmes "Viaggio dell'anima" with the Lautten Compagney ensemble in Berlin, "Amore e Follia" with mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey and "Serenata Latina" with harpist Xavier de Maistre. He can also be heard in solo recitals at the Musikverein in Graz, the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden and in Sofia.

At the Paris Opera: La Traviata (Alfredo Germont), 2000, 2003, 2004; Faust (title role), 2003; Manon (Chevalier Des Grieux), 2004; La Bohème (Rodolfo), 2004; Les Contes d'Hoffmann (title role), 2007; Werther (title role), 2009

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