Rolando Villazon Returns to the Austrian Stage After Surgery

Mexican-born Rolando Villazon returned to the opera stage on March 22 after a long break for surgery and recuperation. The tenor played Nemorino in Donizetti's L'ELISIR D'AMORE (THE ELIXIR OF LOVE) at the Vienne Staatsoper.

The 38 year old opera star came into his own at the age of 10. He performed frequently with soprano Anna Netrebko in productions such as Verdi's LA TRAVIATA and Verdi's RIGOLETTO which was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in 2005-06. The pair also performed in the same production of L'ELISIR in 2005, which was recorded on DVD.

Villazon has had to take two extended breaks during his career. The first was in 2007 when he took several months off to rest. Then in January of 2009 he lost control of his voice during LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR. It was after this that if was discovered that he had a cyst on his vocal cords.
During his recovery from the surgery Villazon became on judge on Britain's reality show, "Popstar to Operastar."

His return to the stage was sold out shortly after being announced. After his aria in Act 2, "Una furtive lagrima," Villazon received a five-minute standing ovation. The final curtain calls were filmed for TV and went on for 20 minutes as the audience continued to cheer and call Villazon back to the stage.

Villazon's upcoming schedule includes a trip to Berlin for three performances in Tchaikovsky's EUGENE ONEGIN as Lenski and a performance as Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA in Zurich. Additionally, he will appear in a series of concerts and recitals and will direct a production of Massenet's WERTHER in Lyon, France.

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