Opera singer Rolando Villazon - biography, creativity and interesting facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

It is useless to convey in words the strength, depth and timbre of an opera singer's voice, especially if the singer is Rolando Villazon. He became one of the most sought-after performers of his generation, recognized as the best lyric tenor of our time, and he is predicted to be famous for Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and José Carreras. He collaborates with the world's preeminent orchestras, conductors, leading opera houses, the most famous classical music recording companies, and his stage partners are the brightest opera stars.

Fire in a corporeal shell

Voice is not Villazón's only stage talent. The frantic temperament, intense drama of the singer is embodied in the characters of his opera characters. He does not sing - he burns, igniting and bewitching the audience. His portrayal of de Grieux in Manon prompted one critic to write: “As soon as Rolando Villazón enters the stage, his expressiveness completely captures the audience. It explores and conveys the character's inner life asno one else.”

Peter Conrad, art critic and author of 19 books on contemporary art culture, commented on the incredible power of reincarnation of the stellar tenor: “Discovering the real Villazón is a task similar to trying to catch a whirlwind. His graceful body and thin skin is a cage for a wild animal creature that either hides in it or breaks out. He is the predatory libertine duke from Verdi's Rigoletto, and the crazy lover Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen, and the morbid narcissist Lensky from Tchaikovsky's opera.

Discovery of Talent

Native to Mexico, Rolando Villazón grew up in Fuentes de Sateller, a suburban area of Mexico City. He received a good liberal arts education, graduating from a German school and attending the Espacios Academy of Performing Arts from the age of 11. Despite his creative inclinations, the young man intended to devote himself to a more spiritual service. He attended seminary and was a candidate for the priesthood. But in 1990, when Rolando turned 18, something unexpected happened.

In an interview with Mexican television, Villazón told the story of how his singing talent was discovered. One day, as he stepped out of the shower of his apartment in Mexico City, someone knocked on the door. It was a friend of his neighbor, the baritone Arturo Nieto, who had heard Rolando sing in the shower and thought he had an amazing voice. To further develop his abilities, Arturo invited the young man to his music academy, where Rolando fell in love with opera. And Nieto became histhe first vocal teacher.

Failed priest

Until 1992, Villazón was torn between the choice of becoming a priest or a singer. Just before his ordination, he went on his Easter pilgrimage to the smoking volcano of Popocatepetl. This was his Sinai. Rolando climbed to the top of 5426 m, waiting for some divine sign. “Nothing happened for me. And I felt sorry for God - I realized that he needs us, and not vice versa. So I went down the snow from the volcano and felt the wind. I looked down at the village below and saw the people living there. Finally, I had a vision of Lucia, the girl who would one day be my wife. And I realized what my choice is. I just left Christianity, although I still admire Jesus as a person, and maybe as a socialist,” Rolando admitted in an interview with Peter Conrad.

Ultimately, Villazón decided to audition at the National Conservatory, which he did in 1992. After training, Rolando performed in Pittsburgh and San Francisco, participating in programs for young performers.

Turning point 1999

This year was Rolando Villazon's springboard for his champion leap into the world of grand opera. He was 27 years old when he took part in Operalia, a Placido Domingo competition for young performers, where he won second place for vocals, the Audience Award and the Zarzuela Special Genre Award.

In the same year he made his debut in Genoa (as de Grieux in Massenet's Manon). Debuts at the two largest opera houses soon followed, which would become Ronaldo'shis creative houses: at the Opéra de Paris (Alfredo's part from Verdi's La Traviata) and at the Staatsoper Berlin (Macduff's part from Verdi's Macbeth). After that, Villazón quickly broke into the international music scene.

Career

His life was spinning like a whirlwind. Invitations and contracts followed one after another. The whole world applauded him with admiration, and Villazón quickly became the most famous tenor of our time. Key milestones in his career:

2000 - performances as Rodolfo from La bohème at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and as Romeo Charles Gounod at the Staatsoper (Vienna). Since then, the star tenor has often returned to Vienna to perform as Werther (J. Massenet), Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, de Grieux in Manon, the title role in Les Hoffmann and the duke in Rigoletto.

2002 - performances in Los Angeles as Rinuccio from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. First CD recordings.

2003 - participation in the Glyndebourne Festival (England) with the part of Rodolfo. And a huge success brought the main role in "The Tales of Hoffmann", performed at Covent Garden (London).

2003 - performs the part of Alfredo from "La Traviata" at the Metropolitan Opera (New York). Takes part in two prominent European festivals in Bregenz and Glyndebourne.

2005 - a triumphant debut in Salzburg at the festival, where the role of Alfredo in the new production of "La Traviata" (together with opera stars Anna Netrebko and Thomas Hampson) brought Villazon the highest appreciation of the public, reporters andcritics. The famous recording studio Deutsche Grammophon has released CD and DVD recordings of this opera. That year he also performed as Alfredo at the festival in St. Petersburg.

2006-2007 - the joint creative work of Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villason continues, attracting considerable public attention. CD and DVD albums by Virgin Classics and Deutsche Grammophon have immortalized the voices of this talented duo. The singer has a busy schedule of performances, tours, album recordings, participation in various creative projects and TV shows. In September, the American version of his album Viva Villazón (Virgin Classics) was released. In 2007, Rolando enters into an exclusive long-term contract with Deutsche Grammophon. In April, Villazón returns to the New York Metropolitan Opera for the first time since his debut as Alfredo from La Traviata.

2008-2009 - the singer began the season at the Berlin Opera with the role of Lensky from "Eugene Onegin", staged by the famous Israeli director Daniel Barenboim. Returns to London, where at the Royal Opera House he resumes acting in The Tales of Hoffmann. Again touring New York (Edgar in Lucia di Lammermoor). With the role of Werther in the opera, Massenet performs in Vienna, and then in Paris. Performs a European tour with a program of Handel's arias (conductor Polo McCreesh), Verdi's Requiem (conductor Antonio Pappano), and also holds gala concerts in Berlin, Athens and Paris. Ends the opera season with concert performances by Werther in Baden-Baden.

2010-2017 - in March (2010) he performed the part of Nemorino from G. Donizetti's opera in Vienna, after which he began a series of concerts. He made his directorial debut with a new production of Werther at the Opéra de Lyon in January 2011. In December 2012, he appeared as Rodolfo from La bohème at London's Royal Opera House. In recent years, Villazón has turned to the work of Mozart both in concerts and in opera performances. He played Don Ottavio from Don Giovanni in Baden-Baden, Alessandro in The Shepherd King in Zurich. His first solo album with concert arias by Mozart for tenor was released in January 2014. In 2017, Villazón sang La Prima Luce.

CDs and DVDs, awards

The repertoire and discography of Rolando Villazon is incredibly rich. About 26 albums with operas and solo concerts have been released. Nine of them are DVDs. And that's not counting joint vocal recordings with world opera stars. His repertoire, only in classical operas, today includes 20 different roles. He is the recipient of many prestigious awards, but the most valuable among them: Chevalier L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, one of the highest awards in the field of art and literature in France.

Unbending

In 2007, in the midst of joint work with Anna Netrebko, tours, tours and major contract projects, something absolutely terrible began to happen. Villazón realized that he was not managing his voice well. He canceled his obligations for a period of five months and left forisland off the coast of Spain. In a conversation with Peter Conrad, he described that period as follows: “It was a physical and vocal collapse. Before this happened, it wasn't me who spoke, it was my reflection, and I wasn't there. My voice is like a horse, he wanted to be ruled by a person, not a reflection. He felt very tired from the frantic pace of his work. And soon doctors diagnosed a three-sided cyst found on his vocal cords. But he continued to perform.

In 2009, the singer underwent a very delicate procedure to remove a cyst. If the ligaments were not restored correctly, then Rolando could remain unable not only to sing, but also to speak. A year later, he returned to the stage.

But after Rolando Villazon's operation, singing was not enough. He is in demand as a TV presenter, presenting the program of the Franco-German channel Arte, and constantly appears in British music programs. In 2013, he publishes his first novel Malabares in Spanish and is starting his second. He directs productions of Werther at the Lyon Opera and L'elisir d'amore in Baden-Baden, intending to continue working in this direction. He draws cartoons and animated cartoons. Acts as Dr. Rollo's clown in orphanages in Germany and Austria.

End 2017

The singer's creative year ends with a joint project with a Russian opera celebrity. The new Duets album by Rolando Villazón and Ildar Abdrazakov (bass) demonstrates this successful collaboration. From 20 November to 12On December the duet will tour, performing at the most famous opera houses in Europe in the following order: Prague, Berlin, Baden-Baden, Stuttgart, Munich, Paris, Vienna. The concerts will be conducted by conductor Gerasim Voronkov.