Rolando Villazón

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Emilio Rolando Villazón Mauleón (born February 22, 1972, in Mexico City) is a Mexican tenor. He is currently in international demand as an opera singer, and also 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 CD recording of Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda by Claudio Monteverdi, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm.

In August 2005, he sang a highly regarded Alfredo in Verdi's La Traviata at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Carlo Rizzi and directed by Willy Decker, with Anna Netrebko, his frequent singing partner, as Violetta Valéry. They have also appeared together in a video version of Donizetti's Elisir d'amore, available on DVD.

In 2007, Mr Villazón switched his recording company - he signed an exclusive long-term contract with Deutsche Grammophon. An album of Zarzuelas (Gitano, Virgin Classics) under the baton of Plácido Domingo, was released in Spring 2007. An album of operatic duets featuring Rolando Villazón and Anna Netrebko was recorded with the Dresdener Staatskapelle under Nicola Luisotti for Deutsche Grammophon and was released in March 2007. The U.S. version of his latest album Viva Villazón (Virgin Classics) was released in September 2007.

For the rest of the 2007 season Mr Villazón has cancelled all his performances, including his debut recital at the Carnegie Hall and Roméo et Juliette at the Metropolitan Opera, due to health problems.[1][2]

[edit] 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

[edit] References

  1. ^ Daniel J. Wakin. "Tenor Takes Time Off, Cites Health", The New York Times, September 13, 2007. 
  2. ^ Matthew Westphal. "Tenor Rolando Villazón Cancels Performances Through Year's End, Including Met, Covent Garden, Carnegie Hall", Playbill Arts, 12 Sep 2007 (updated 13 Sep 2007). 

“The finest tenor of our time” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung[citation needed]

“Schönste Tenorstimme unserer Zeit” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung[citation needed]

[edit] External links