Rolando Villazˆ„n's Handel on Deutsche Grammophon 3/31

Rolando Villazˆ„n and Handel Make a Surprising Musical Coupling in a New Deutsche Grammophon Release In Stores March 31st

Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Players Join Villazˆ„n for Idiomatic and Passionate Music-Making

’ÄúRolando Villazˆ„n has’Ķstepped into the operatic spotlight with a vengeance: an exuberantly brilliant, youthful, agile, all-around lyric tenor who defies the canard about tenors’Äô intelligence, who can genuinely act and who outstrips his rivals with a maverick breadth of repertory from Monteverdi to Puccini." New York Times

NEW YORK, NY ’Äì March 30, 2009 ’Äì On March 31st, 2009, Deutsche Grammophon will release the second studio recording from Mexican tenor Rolando Villazˆ„n. Paul McCreesh ’Äì a Gramophone Award winner for his previous Handel recordings ’Äì and the Gabrieli Players energize this all Italian Handel aria program. This recording follows the tremendous worldwide success of Villazˆ„n’Äôs 2008 Deutsche Grammophon debut, Cielo e Mar, and spotlights a dramatically different side of this versatile and winning singer.

For those who associate Rolando Villazˆ„n with the lyric tenor heroes of 19th-century operas, the notion of him singing Handel may come as a bit of a shock. ’ÄúI was in Paris, at the start of my career,’Äù he explains, ’Äúand I bought a CD of Cecilia Bartoli singing Vivaldi. I became obsessed by it. Ever since then I have sought out recordings of Baroque music. And I dreamed of singing it myself.’Äù

His chance came when he met the conductor and harpsichordist Emmanuelle HaˆØm. She persuaded him to make a CD of Monteverdi. ’ÄúAnd I must say that it was one of the most spiritually fulfilling experiences of my career. Another door opened in my inner life.’Äù Having convinced himself that he could sing Baroque arias, Villazˆ„n’Äôs next venture into that repertoire seemed obvious. With the 250th anniversary of George Frideric Handel’Äôs death on the horizon, he made the bold choice to record some of the greatest arias from Handel’Äôs opere serie. Until he made this recording he had sung barely a note of Handel in public.

What Villazˆ„n wanted to do was engage fully ’Äì musically, stylistically and philosophically ’Äì with the world of period-instrument Baroque performance which is why Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Players ’Äì who are at the forefront of Britain’Äôs period-instrument movement was engaged to work on the project.

’ÄúIn a sense this marks the coming-of-age of the Baroque music revival,’Äù the conductor says. ’ÄúEven great Romantic tenors want to sing it now! Of course, the convention is for lighter voices to do this repertoire. But once I had some preliminary rehearsals with Rolando, I realized that he has a fantastic instrument for Baroque music.’Äù

Rolando Villazˆ„n’Äôs Handel album is released as he makes his return to the American opera stage for the first time in two seasons. In January and February, he appeared as Edgardo in Donizetti’Äôs Lucia di Lammermoor opposite Anna Netrebko at the Metropolitan Opera. Villazˆ„n returns to the Met on April 8^th to showcase his comic prowess as Nemorino in L’ÄôElisir d’ÄôAmore also by Donizetti.