Interview with Rolando Villazon
La Donna Mobile
"The newest romantic
With his Latin looks and athletic acting, tenor Rolando Villazon was born to sing the anthems of doomed youth. By Hugh Canning
When Rolando Villazon made his Covent Garden debut in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann, just two years ago, few in the audience could have realised what a treat was in store for them — or that they were witnessing the emergence of arguably the finest young operatic tenor of our time. Even I was surprised. Eight months earlier, the now 33-year-old Mexican had appeared for the first time in the UK, at Glyndebourne, singing a likeable Rodolfo in David McVicar’s modern-dress La bohème. He got a good, but hardly overwhelming reception from the British press. So, did we get it wrong? Nobody who was at Covent Garden, on January 22, 2004, will forget the little dance of triumph Villazon did at his tumultuous curtain call, jumping up and down like a delighted child given the run of the world’s largest toy shop. He was clearly as surprised as the rest of us. “Yes,” he says, when we met in France in January, “but something changed in the eight months, I think, technically. My voice felt different.”
His voice, an unusually dark but typically Latin-sounding lyric tenor, slightly reminiscent of the young Placido Domingo’s, but with its own “imprint”, had not seemed especially powerful at Glyndebourne, yet he managed to fill the much bigger Royal Opera House without apparent effort.
In purely vocal terms, I thought at the time, nobody had sung Hoffmann at Covent Garden with such allure and charisma since Domingo; but Villazon’s portrayal of the drunken, besotted, fantasising poet was quite unlike that of the singer he says is his idol and early mentor. He is slighter of stature, elegant of figure and, by lyric-tenor standards, an uncommonly athletic actor. Indeed, he has the perfect physique for the doomed young romantics: Rodolfo and Alfredo, in La traviata, his first big roles in his native Mexico City in the late 1990s; Massenet’s Werther and Des Grieux, in Manon; and Gounod’s Faust and Roméo.
“I love to sing at Covent Garden,” he says. “My first big break was Paris, and that got me to other houses, because theatre managements heard about a tenor in Paris. But Hoffmann at Covent Garden was, well, ‘Pow!’ My career exploded after that, and it coincided with my first CD coming out. It was a thrilling moment.”
On February 20, Virgin Classics will release Villazon’s third solo album. The previous two were devoted to Italian and French opera respectively, but the new one covers a range of roles, some already tackled, some soon to be attempted and some he will probably never sing on stage. It opens, appropriately enough, with two Hoffmann numbers, the Legend of Kleinzach from the prologue, and the aria from the Olympia act, in which the young poet is duped into falling in love with a doll.
Cavaradossi’s Act I aria from Puccini’s Tosca (a role he plans to sing for the first time in Berlin, in 2008) is there, along with Turiddu’s “Mamma”, from Cavalleria rusticana, and Loris’s lament, Amor ti vieta, from Giordano’s Fedora — all standard “Italian” tenor fare.
But Villazon also sings the Puccini parody aria from Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier and an old Caruso favourite, Lyonel’s aria from Flotow’s Martha, which the great Italian recorded in his native tongue, but Villazon, as a thoroughly modern — and linguistically gifted — tenor, sings in the original German. There is also a taster of his next new role, Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Yevgeny Onyegin, which opens in a new production by Steven Pimlott at Covent Garden on March 16. An unexpected role for a Latin tenor, I suggest to him.
“Yes, I fought to do it at Covent Garden. I don’t know if it will be the only time I sing it, but I am sure I am not going to sing it very often, because there are great Russian tenors who can sing it. It’s true that it wouldn’t be most houses’ first choice to have a singer like me for that role.” However, with his brooding looks and romantic temperament, he should be ideally suited to the part of Onyegin’s young poet friend, who dies in a duel when they quarrel over a flirtation with his beloved.
Before he went to Nice to rehearse his first Werther in January, Villazon made a whistle stop in St Petersburg. To brush up his Russian, I ask? “No, for Valery Gergiev’s first Bohème and Anna Netrebko’s first Mimi. It was quite an experience! Fantastic, fantastic.” Villazon’s enthusiasm is infectious. In person, he seems as fired with the passion of youth as he does on stage.
Last summer, Villazon and Netrebko appeared together in what was billed in Europe as “the operatic event of the year”: a new production of La traviata at Salzburg’s Large Festival theatre, sold out for months in advance, for which desperate internet fans were offering more than £3,000 for a ticket. The festival had seen nothing like it since the heydays of Herbert von Karajan, with his deluxe all-star opera casts. Netrebko is already a megastar in the German-speaking world — breathlessly (and erroneously) described in the popular press as a new Maria Callas, her glamour-puss image emblazoned on the front of all the glossy magazines, and armed with that essential diva accoutrement, a Rolex endorsement contract.
Villazon first sang Romeo to her Juliet in Los Angeles — a pairing devised by Domingo, who is artistic director of the LA Opera — and, just before Christmas, they appeared together at New York’s Metropolitan Opera as the Duke of Mantua and Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Already, my Manhattan spies tell me, there is talk of “the new couple”, the successors to the French tenor Roberto Alagna and his wife, the Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu. But Villazon laughs off the idea.
“Er, nooo. There is no new ‘couple’, but I do believe there is a strong chemistry between us, and it’s a huge pleasure to sing with Anna. We are more or less the same age. I’m not sure if I am allowed to say Anna’s age, but the difference is some months, that’s all. We react naturally towards each other on stage, we understand each other very well, and I think the voices match each other well. The good thing is that this partnership was not created by a record company. Maestro Domingo engaged us for Roméo et Juliette in Los Angeles, and it worked well, and after that it just happened that a lot of houses engaged us together.”
Villazon, in any case, is married to a psychologist — “a good job for the wife of a singer” — and they live in Paris with their two “Rolandinos”, boys aged four and two. So there is no question of a real-life romantic attachment.
Nevertheless, before their Salzburg Traviata, DG announced, much to Virgin/EMI’s consternation, that Villazon would be joining the Hamburg-based company as an exclusive artist when his current contract expires this year. DG recorded the Salzburg Traviata live and, Villazon assures me, it has sold a phenomenal 300,000 copies worldwide (a highlights disc is out this month). Although in parts of the world — certainly here — Villazon is regarded as the bigger star, he bridles at my suggestion that he might be switching record companies to become Netrebko’s supporting tenor.
“I’m not going to DG to be the tenor of nobody,” he insists. “With Virgin, my contract comes to an end. It’s a difficult topic to speak about, but one thing I will say is that it was always a dream for me to record for DG. There are great new people there now, they are marketing aggressively, but I think they also care about artistic matters. Of course, we will be singing a lot together.”
He hints at complete opera sets, possibly to be recorded live in concert rather than in the studio. And he mentions the enticing prospect — nothing confirmed — of a joint appearance in a new production of Massenet’s Manon at Covent Garden. Certainly we will be seeing a lot more of Villazon there: he has new productions of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and Verdi’s Don Carlo firmly contracted, which will delight his growing army of fans here.
Operatic London can’t get enough of him.
Rolando Villazon’s Opera Recital is released on Virgin on Feb 20; Scenes from La traviata with Anna Netrebko is out now on DG "
(Actually, Opera Recital is released tomorrow, and according to Amazon it is on its way to me right now...)
-- http://www.madmusingsof.me.uk/weblog/ http://www.geraldine-curtis.me.uk/photoblog/
madabouttraviata
I just looove him!!!! I had a chance to hear him live in November - it
was soooo beautiful concert (in May he'll be back and I already have
ticket)... And there was a short documentary with interview in czech
TV... He is so "amazingly crazy"!!!!
madabouttraviata
Stephen Jay-Taylor
tenor-de-choix is ending after "Tosca". News to me the "Onegin"s a new
production : I thought it was a revival ( though why they scrapped Peter
Hall's exquisite staging in the first place I'll never know.) A new "Don
Carlo" ? At least that means the squitty Luc Bondy one's gone for good,
hooray. But who will be staging the new one ? ( a question often asked here
in fear and trembling, to the which a Gelb-run Met had better start getting
used..) Singers come and go : stagings we're stuck with.
SJT
La Donna Mobile
But Marcelo's going to be in Boheme.
Did you spot Peter Hall last night at the QEH?
La Donna Mobile
There's an interview with him in The Gramophone
If you can't get hold of it in hard copy drop me an email and I'll see if I can scan it and email you. The teaser on the site says
Cover Story – Clown Prince
It wasn’t just the magic
mushrooms his uncle fed him that made Rolando Villazón believe he was a
world-class tenor. But he could have done many things – clown,
cartoonist, he almost became an actor, then a priest. Warwick Thompson
tries to keep up.
Meeting Mexico’s new superstar tenor
Rolando Villazón is rather like stepping into a wind-tunnel. You barely
get a chance to say hello, before a storm of words and stories and
quotations and allusions comes whizzing at you. His great-grandmother’s
bizarre disappearance, how he learned to sing pianississimo,
how he got his first big break while singing in the bath, why he took a
hammer to his bicycle, the reason he got kicked out of school, wanting
to be a priest…he goes wherever his fancy takes him. You just have to
hold on to your hat, enjoy the ride, and hope for the best.
And
it quickly becomes apparent the best is worth the wait. A natural and
eager story-teller, it’s no surprise to learn that he once considered
becoming an actor. He’s passionate about the power of music, about the
world of opera, about cartooning, about literature, about his family.
His energy levels are phenomenal but he’s one of those people who seems
to energise those around him rather than draining them. And though his
conversation can be dizzyingly tangential, you soon realise that if he
takes a crooked route around a subject it’s because he wants to ponder
it from every angle. He gets an idea, then wants to turn it round for
you, to show you every contradictory facet. It’s clever, sparky – and
of course, rare. Villazón likes to self-deprecatingly cite the old joke
that tenors score low in the mental agility stakes, but in this as in
many things, he is clearly a new breed of tenor.
Find out more in the March issue of The Gramophone
Stephen Jay-Taylor
I did indeed spot Sir P of H, looking increasingly like the lamented Lord
Goodman, and preoccupied with funding his new Globe-type experiment in
Richmond, as I discovered whilst Perpetuum was guarding your occupation of
the Ladies.
SJT
PS. To my surprise, I didn't care for the Mahler at all, which in
the-otherwise omnicapable Mackerras' hands sounded bitty, with no
through-line, and thoroughly un-Mahlerian in feel, mood and expression. And
Sarah Fox's whoosh entry onstage during the climax of the slow movement I
thought a disgrace : she gets her fee ; she can sit there patiently from the
outset like the rest of us waiting for her turn to sing, and preferably in
future sing a damn sight better than she managed last night.
La Donna Mobile
I thought the "Bohème" was just a revival. No ?
I did indeed spot Sir P of H, looking increasingly like the lamented Lord Goodman, and preoccupied with funding his new Globe-type experiment in Richmond, as I discovered whilst Perpetuum was guarding your occupation of the Ladies.
SJT PS. To my surprise, I didn't care for the Mahler at all, which in the-otherwise omnicapable Mackerras' hands sounded bitty, with no through-line, and thoroughly un-Mahlerian in feel, mood and expression. And Sarah Fox's whoosh entry onstage during the climax of the slow movement I thought a disgrace : she gets her fee ; she can sit there patiently from the outset like the rest of us waiting for her turn to sing, and preferably in future sing a damn sight better than she managed last night.
I don't know the piece. Mahler is one of those composers that I feel I ought to do more work on. I often find I like him more than I was expecting to, but not enough to motivate me to do the more work, what with there been finite hours in the day and infinite other composers etc etc. At least the chap on my other side stayed awake during it, which is more than can be said for the Mozart where he alternated between snoring in my ear and (inadvertently) repeatedly touching me up.
un...@mvdaily.com
a year or so ago, if you want more :
www.Handelmania.com
series.....at the Rose Building....CH
premie...@aol.com
SJT
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May I safely assume that the Onegins are sold out? I hope to be there
for at least one performance, and would rather get tickets on my own.
Thanks for any info.
Best
Ed
La Donna Mobile
Stephen Jay-Taylor
Au contraire, cherub. Behold :
https://tickets.royaloperahouse.org/etickets/index.asp
Click "Browse Productions", find Onegin mid-way down the list that appears,
and voila ! 20/22 March, 3/5 April all still available for your
delectation....
My first Lensky was Stuart Burrows, so your boy has his work cut out !
SmeeJT
Stephen Jay-Taylor
That should have read : SmeeJT, the "I prefer the word "recording" king's
little helper
premie...@aol.com
SmeeJT
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My first was Jess Thomas, at the old Met in 1964. The good news was
that Leontyne Price was a the glorious Tatyana, but the bad news is
that William Dooley was the Onegin. Thomas was fairly bad news, too,
but Giorgio Tozzi was also wonderful as Gremin. The Met was still
performing the opera in English at that time. Being 39 years old, like
yourself, means that I was minus 2 when I saw this performance. Rather
precocious of me.
Best
Ed
premie...@aol.com
No they're not sold out. I have done a very quick click on 20 March and
have found availability of seats for various areas at £100+ categories
and also standing room for £7. You might want to follow this link
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you, and thank you SJT for your responses. If I do make it over
there, I hope to meet both of you, and we can go have some ale with
Rolando! I recall a large pub right near the Covent Garden underground
station, no?
Best
Ed
Stephen Jay-Taylor
O dear me yes. Scene of many an anguished performance post-mortem. Behold :
http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/37/379/Nags_Head/Covent_Garden
The white building just inches beyond is of course the Royal Opera House
itself, well-positioned for liquid relief I've always thought, especially
compared to either the Garnier or Bastille in Paris, marooned in splendidly
sniffy isolation as they are.
SmeeJT, the private recording king's little helper
Stephen Jay-Taylor
Braun was Onegin, and Gwynne Howell Gremin. Solti conducted. Sung in
English, at Peter Hall's insistence. We only went Russian in the 80s, with
such obvious Slavic candidates as Freni and Focile. Goeth figureth and
dosvedanya...
SXPT
premie...@aol.com
king's
little helper
Certo, si!! Non "pirata" ma vero "private." (Italian pronunciation
please)
Ed
La Donna Mobile
Well, I'm never one to turn down an invite to go drinking, as SJT will
no doubt verify, and exaggerate, and over-exaggerate...!
madabouttraviata
by car and go back immediately - which should be a "very funny
trip":-))).... But I have a big psychological problem: I hate crowds of
people - I feel absolutely out and I must run away (that's why I
understand very well how somebody can commits a physical violence
:-)))... It's the reason why I can't go to concerts on a stadium (a
theatre or a big concert hall is my maximum:-)) ... And if it goes
together with "millions" of football's fans.... Oh, it would be my
death... And'm so "brave" that I'll (probably) go to Salzburg this
summer so one challenge is good enough:-))
Zdravím
madabouttraviata
La Donna Mobile
I did not find that the Waldbuhne gave me any sense of being crowded. It
is wonderfully designed amphitheatre in a natural bowl. But there is a
sense of being remote from the stage, which is a shame. I don't have a
problem in crowds, except that, being 5'2" (156 cm) I find it
frustrating not being able to see ahead. But I felt less crowded there
than, for example, I did at the 900-seater Queen Elizabeth Hall on
Saturday. My advice to anyone going to the Waldbuhne is take a cushion
and leave any firework-phobia at home. And they only allow you take half
a litre of liquid inside.
Regarding the football fans, I am absolutely certain that there will be
an enormous police presence. If World ranking is anything to go by, the
Final should be Brazil v Czechia, and if they both win their groups,
they won't meet until the final. Argentina and the Netherlands are next
ranked, and it would be a fool who bets against Germany, even though
they're only ranked 16th. What the police really don't want is a final
involving any two out of Germany, Netherlands and England (well, the
last is guaranteed...!)
madabouttraviata
> Regarding the football fans, I am absolutely certain that there will be
> an enormous police presence. If World ranking is anything to go by, the
> Final should be Brazil v Czechia, and if they both win their groups,
> they won't meet until the final. Argentina and the Netherlands are next
> ranked, and it would be a fool who bets against Germany, even though
> they're only ranked 16th. What the police really don't want is a final
> involving any two out of Germany, Netherlands and England (well, the
> last is guaranteed...!)
Well, if we (CR) were in a final (and I'm skeptic - everytime when we
are favorized there is something that get us down... - but I hooooope
that we'll win even Olympics in ice - hokey!!!!) it will be absolutely
horrible to go through boarders... And I don't want to be in Germany in
that case - you know, it's a kind of historical antagonism.:-)))))
O.K.: I trust you. Waldbuhne could be sufferable:-)))) (and I know that
the problem is only in my head:-))).
But now there is a different question - I stil don't
spoil:-)))))))))))))))))))))))) (sometimes I'm seriously thinking about
it:-))))))))))))))) And the prices of tickets are really "heavenly"
high (I mean even more than usually)... I hope that it will be in
TV.... regrettably, it must be enough for me...
P.S.: Tomorrow, I'll make a "spy journey" around Prague to find The
Gramophone:-))))
And even one question:
Don't you know something about DVD with La Traviata from Salzburg - I
found that there would be some video.... but it looked like it's only
extract of clips as bonus to CD version... I would like to buy it - I
like the "mise en scene".
Even if
I'm not sure about Miss Netrebko. I don't know if she is really so good
or it's a good marketing strategy - I was disappoited by her technique
in that Traviata (breath support); but I love her clip to Dvorák's
Rusalka - she sings it very well (but it's studio version) and the
video absolutely fits the lyrics; and MET Rigoletto in December... I'm
not sure (but she was ill...).... - I hadn't another opportunity to
hear her live...
Preji krásný den (Have a nice day)
madabouttraviata
Nika
> Don't you know something about DVD with La Traviata from Salzburg - I
> found that there would be some video.... but it looked like it's only
> extract of clips as bonus to CD version... I would like to buy it - I
> like the "mise en scene".
I heard it through the grapevine that a DVD recording of the complete
opera would be released in May 2006, but no exact dates were named. The
recording company, Deutsche Grammophon, does not mention this
production in their "coming soon" list :-(
Stephen Jay-Taylor
They'll release it at this year's Salzburg Festival, in July.
SJTraviata
Transy...@webtv.net
<<< Hmmm. Looks like Marcelo Alvarez' run of new productions as ROH
tenor-de-choix is ending after "Tosca". >>>
Perhaps it's just as well. He has not had the best of luck with new ROH
productions, at least as far criticism of the productions themselves
(not criticism of his singing!)
I believe Werther got pretty decent reviews, but reviews for the new
productions of Rigoletto and Ballo were so-so, and the critics pretty
much panned Luisa Miller and Lucia.
I hope he has better luck with the new Tosca; as I posted elsewhere, I
heard it was already sold out!
Kay