Over the course of an international career spanning more than 25 years, Rolando Villazón has firmly established himself among the music world’s most critically acclaimed and beloved stars and as one of the leading artistic voices of our day through his uniquely compelling performances. Villazón’s versatility is unique: in addition to his performance career, he is also a successful stage director, novelist, artistic director of the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg and television/radio presenter.

Born in Mexico City, he began his musical studies at the age of 11, prior to his international breakthrough at the San Francisco Opera in 1998. Soon after he made his European debut as Des Grieux in Jules Massenet’s »Manon Lescaut« and in 2005 his performance in »La Traviata« with Anna Netrebko at the Salzburg Festival propelled him to world stardom.

Since 2011, he has repeatedly enchanted audiences at the Musikfest Bremen with his unparalleled stage presence and unbridled passion. In 2016, the festival awarded him the Musikfest Prize in recognition of this. In the 2025/26 season, Rolando Villazón returned to the Vienna State Opera for his house debut as Pelléas in Marco Arturo Marelli’s production of »Pelléas et Mélisande«, conducted by Alain Altinoglu. He appeared as Eisenstein in Johann Strauss’s »Die Fledermaus« at the Bavarian State Opera at the turn of the year. Another highlight is Villazón’s directorial debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he staged a new production of »La Sonnambula«. He also directed Mozart’s »Die Zauberflöte« for the Salzburg Mozart Week and Rossini’s »L’Italiana in Algeri« at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, his third production at this house.