Rolando Villazón

Through his uniquely compelling performances with leading international opera companies and orchestras, Rolando Villazón has firmly established himself as one of the music world’s most critically acclaimed and beloved stars. He is among the most versatile artists alive today, maintaining successful careers as a stage director, novelist, and TV personality alongside his on-stage activities. In 1999, Villazón won several top prizes at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition and burst onto the international music scene. He has subsequently performed on all the world’s important stages, with signature roles including Alfredo in La traviata, the Duke in Rigoletto, and the title role in Gounod’s Roméo and Faust, Offenbach’s Hoffmann, Puccini’s Rodolfo (La Bohème), Tchaikovsky’s Lensky (Eugene Onegin) and Verdi’s Don Carlo. Villazón became an exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon in 2007, releasing his first solo album Cielo e mar in 2008. He made his debut as a stage director in 2011 with a critically acclaimed production of Massenet’s Werther with the Opéra de Lyon. Villazón is also an accomplished writer, the author of three novels, and in 2017 was named Artistic Director of the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation’s annual Mozart Week.