Rolando Villazón Mauleón (born February 22, 1972) is a Mexican operatic tenor, stage director, author, radio and television personality, and artistic director. He lives in France and became a French citizen in 2007.

Villazón has written several books, including the novels Malabares and Paladas de sombra contra la oscuridad, which have been translated into French and German. He is a member of the Collège de 'Pataphysique in Paris.

Early life

Villazón was raised in Fuentes de Satélite, a suburb of Mexico City, Mexico. During a television interview in Mexico, he shared how he was discovered as a tenor. According to Villazón, he was singing in the shower at his apartment in Mexico City when baritone Arturo Nieto, a friend of his neighbor, heard him singing and knocked on his door. Nieto then encouraged Villazón to improve his singing voice and invited him to attend his music academy, where Villazón later became interested in opera.

Career

In 1999, Villazón gained international recognition after winning second prize in Plácido Domingo's Operalia competition. He finished behind Bulgarian bass Orlin Anastassov. At the same competition, he also received first prize for Zarzuela and the audience prize. That year, he made his Italian debut as des Grieux in Massenet's Manon at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.

In 2000, Villazón made his debut at the Berlin State Opera as Macduff in Verdi's Macbeth. Over the next few seasons, he performed several principal roles there, including Don José in Bizet's Carmen and des Grieux in Manon. Also in 2000, he appeared as Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème in Munich. In 2002, he performed as Rinuccio in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi in Los Angeles.

In 2003, Villazón portrayed Rodolfo again at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in England and later appeared in the title role of Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann at the Royal Opera House in London. The following year, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata. In 2005, he appeared in the same role at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg and at the Salzburg Festival.

Villazón performed regularly at major opera houses worldwide and in concerts during this period. In August 2005, he portrayed Alfredo at the Salzburg Festival in a production conducted by Carlo Rizzi and directed by Willy Decker, alongside Anna Netrebko as Violetta. Villazón and Netrebko also appeared together in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at the Vienna State Opera, a performance later released on DVD. He performed with Netrebko and Plácido Domingo in globally televised concerts from Berlin's Waldbühne and Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace in 2006 and 2008.

Between 2007 and 2009, Villazón canceled several scheduled performances to address a persistent vocal issue. In May 2009, he announced he would undergo surgery to remove a congenital cyst from one of his vocal cords.

After his recovery, Villazón returned to the operatic stage in March 2010 as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore at the Vienna State Opera and gave a series of recitals. In December 2012, he appeared again as Rodolfo at the Royal Opera House, as he had in 2005.

From 2010 onward, Villazón performed several tenor roles by Mozart in both concert and staged productions, including Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Festspiel Baden-Baden, the Royal Opera House, and the Berlin State Opera; Alessandro in Il re pastore, conducted by William Christie at the Opernhaus Zürich and the Salzburg Festival; and the title role in Lucio Silla at the Salzburg Festival. His first all-Mozart solo album, featuring concert arias for tenor, was released in January 2014.

Villazón continued to perform at major international opera houses and expanded his repertoire. In 2016, he made his debut in Bohuslav Martinů's Juliette ou la clé des songes in a new production conducted by Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera. That year, he performed the title role of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo for the first time, later performing it in new productions at the Semperoper Dresden and the Santa Fe Opera in 2023.

In 2017, Villazón appeared as the title character in Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria in Paris. In 2018, he first portrayed Pelléas in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, again conducted by Barenboim. In 2021, he returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Papageno in The Magic Flute. In 2022, Villazón first performed in a Wagner role as Loge in Das Rheingold at the Berlin State Opera in a new production by Dmitri Tcherniakov, conducted by Christian Thielemann.

In 2018, Villazón was appointed artistic director of Mozart Week in Salzburg, and in 2021, he became artistic director of the International Mozarteum Foundation, which organizes the festival. His contract was extended until 2028.

On May 18, 2026, he will star as Cervantes/Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha in concert at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

Villazón made his debut as a stage director with a new production of Massenet's Werther at the Opéra de Lyon in January 2011. He directed L'elisir d'amore at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden (2012) and Oper Leipzig (2019), Donizetti's Viva la Mamma at the Vienna Volksoper (2015), Puccini's La rondine at Deutsche Oper Berlin (2015), La traviata at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden (2015), Die Fledermaus by J. Strauss at Deutsche Oper Berlin (2018), Bellini's La sonnambula at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (2021), and Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Salzburg Festival (2022).

In addition to his operatic performances, Villazón has an active recording career. He has recorded four solo CDs with Virgin Classics and is featured, along with Patrizia Ciofi and Topi Lehtipuu, on the recording of Monteverdi's Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm. An album of zarzuelas (Gitano, Virgin Classics), conducted by Plácido Domingo, was released in Spring 2007. The U.S. version of his album Viva Villazón (Virgin Classics) was released in September 2007. Villazón sang "La Prima Luce" on the 2014 Yanni/Plácido Domingo/Ric Wake collaboration album Inspirato.

In 2007, Villazón switched recording companies and signed an exclusive long-term contract with Deutsche Grammophon. For DG, Rolando Villazón has recorded over 20 CDs and DVDs, which have received numerous awards. His discography includes leading roles in complete recordings of six Mozart operas conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Discography

• Romeo and Juliet (CD, 2002), Radio Televisión Española
• The Flying Dutchman (CD, 2002), Teldec Classics
• Berlioz: The Greek Revolution (CD, 2004), EMI Classics
• Italian Opera Arias (CD, 2004), Virgin Classics
• Gounod & Massenet Arias (CD, 2005), Virgin Classics
• Tristan and Isolde (CDs and DVD, 2005), EMI Classics
• Don Carlo (two DVDs, 2005), Opus Arte
• La Traviata (CD, 2005), Deutsche Grammophon
• Merry Christmas (soundtrack) (CD, 2005), Virgin Classics
• Opera Recital (CD with bonus DVD, 2006), Virgin Classics
• La Traviata (DVD with special two-DVD edition, including behind-the-scenes material and rehearsals) (2006), Salzburger Festspiele 2005, Deutsche Grammophon
• La Bohème (DVD, 2006), Bregenzer Festspiele 2002, ORF and Capriccio
• Monteverdi: The Combat (CD with bonus 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 with bonus DVD, February 2007), Virgin Classics
• Duets, featuring Rolando Villazón and Anna Netrebko (CD with bonus DVD, March 2007), Deutsche Grammophon
• Viva Villazón (collection CD, 2007), Virgin Classics
• La Bohème (live recording, two-CD set, 2008), Deutsche Grammophon
• Cielo e mar (CD, 2008), Deutsche Grammophon
• Roméo et Juliette (two DVDs, Salzburger Festspiele 2008) (2009), Deutsche Grammophon
• Georg Friedrich Händel (CD/CD+DVD, 2009), Deutsche Grammophon
• La Bohème (DVD, 2009)
• ¡México! (2010)
• Vivaldi: Ercole sul Termodonte, with Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante (CD, 2010), Erato
• La Strada – Songs from the Movies (CD, 2011), Deutsche Grammophon
• Don Giovanni (CD, 2012), Deutsche Grammophon
• Villazón Verdi (CD, 2012), Deutsche Grammophon
• Werther (CD, 2012), Deutsche Grammophon
• Così fan tutte (CD, 2013), Deutsche Grammophon
• L'Elisir d'Amore (DVD, 2014), Deutsche Grammophon
• Die Entführung aus dem Serail (CD, 2015), Deutsche Grammophon
• Treasures of Belcanto (CD, 2015), Deutsche Grammophon
• Messiah (CD, 2016), with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square
• Le Nozze di Figaro (CD, 2016), Deutsche Grammophon
• O Come Little Children (2017)
• Duets (CD, 2017), Deutsche Grammophon
• La Clemenza di Tito (CD, 2018), Deutsche Grammophon
• Feliz Navidad (CD, 2018), Deutsche Grammophon
• Die Zauberflöte (CD, 2019), Deutsche Grammophon
• Serenata Latina (CD, 2020), Deutsche Grammophon /