Rolando Villazón on Verdi and the people

14 December 2012, 11:20

Verdi wrote so many masterpieces for the opera stage, not to mention his stunning Requiem. It's no wonder tenor Rolando Villazón is passionate about the composer and his works, who wrote popular music for the Italian people.

After releasing his latest album of Verdi's music, it's plain to see Rolando Villazón is almost as passionate when talking about the composer as he is singing his fantastic works. In a lively interview with Anne-Marie Minhall, he shared his love of the man and his music, explaining what makes his operas so accessible.

"I don't think Verdi wrote for musicologists, or critics, or colleague composers, he wrote for the people, and fortunately he was extremely successful so he didn't care about the criticism he was receiving," he said. "The man is his own style. He created, he invented, he developed his own tradition, his own style, his own way of doing things."

At moments where mere conversation won't do to describe just how brilliant Verdi is, Rolando bursts into spontaneous humming, giving us a clue just how explosive Verdi's songs can be, and how his music is able to speak to the heart.

Listen to the interview with Rolando Villazón