In just a few weeks, Rolando Villazón will grace the stage of the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden as Nemorino in his own production of Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore" (Whitsun 2012). No stranger to triumph, the Mexican tenor has previously celebrated great success in such roles as Alfredo in Verdi's "La Traviata" and the Duke in "Rigoletto". For this new project he will delve one level deeper into the world of the great bel canto masters. In addition to their immortal operas, Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti, Gioacchino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini also composed an entire series of wonderful Lieder. To bring to mind the masterpieces so often overshadowed by the great operas - purely due to their smaller form - Villazón has gathered together his own personal Lieder selection. It is largely because they are so often overlooked that Villazón has lost his heart to these precious Lieder jewels. "To explore these Lieder is comparable to studying the lesser known paintings of the great artists. They tend to be forgotten only because the larger paintings are considerably more famous. These seemingly smaller works, these sketches, are exceptional works in themselves and deserve just as much attention." The rare bel canto treasures will be given a new makeover - instead of a piano accompaniment, they will be performed with orchestral arrangements composed especially for them. This will guarantee a memorable discovery of these otherwise relatively unknown "treasures of bel canto".

Rolando Villazón Tenor

Rolando Villazón sings Italian Lieder by composers including V. Bellini, G. Donizetti, G. Rossini and G. Verdi.

Gala Concert presented by the Friends of the Festspielhaus 

In co-production with Universal Music Classical Management

Finishing time approx.: 10pm