If you look at my videos page, read the quote to the right, and notice the only link I have added so far, you will see that I LOVE Rolando Villazon. He’s a fabulous Mexican tenor. I fell in love with him for his performance in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’Amore.
He plays a hillarious Nemorino in this production, done at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2005. After seeing this video I became somewhat obsessed with him. (Mind you, this happened very recently, so I’m still somewhat obsessed. 
)
As a result of my obsession I learned something very important. I was looking up his CD’s on Amazon and came across this video about Cielo e mar, which is now posted on youtube:
In his interview he said something profound: “My part is to sing and to give myself to this music, to give my voice and my whole instrument, which is my whole soul and my whole being.” Not necessarily stated in the most profound way, but an excellent point none the less. (And I love his accent. ) I’ve heard people say more times than I can count that as singers our instrument is our whole body. Never before had I heard someone say that it’s our whole soul. But he’s so right! What sets aside a good singer from a phenomenal singer? It’s not necessarily anything vocal. It’s that extra zing that comes when a musician puts their heart into the music. They allow themselves to be vulnerable and open their soul up to the audience. That’s what makes an audience sit there transfixed. It’s what makes them buy into what you’re singing about. Or playing, because it’s the same with instrumentalists. It may even be more important for them because they don’t have text to help them communicate.
That is what makes Rolando such a rock star. That’s what makes him amazing. It’s because he looks for ways to connect to the music, he feels it, and he opens up his whole soul, his whole being (as he says in the video) and lets the music flow through him.
Yup. He’s a rock star. I want to be just like him.
Only not. ‘Cause I’m a woman. I want to be the girl version of Rolando.
~wannabe
