XabierAnduaga

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  • 29 April 2024

    14 Askonas Holt artists feature in Wiener Staatsoper’s 2024/25 season

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  • 18 March 2024

    Bayerische Staatsoper 2024/25 season to feature 23 Askonas Holt artists

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  • 11 March 2024

    Askonas Holt welcomes tenor Xabier Anduaga

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Press

  • Lucia di Lammermoor

    Royal Opera House
    Apr 2024 - May 2024

    • Bel canto tenors have been described as the ‘welterweights’ of the operatic world, and 27-year-old Spanish tenor Xabier Anduaga has already established himself as a world champion. With his diamond-tipped upper register, Anduaga’s flawless messa di voce – his swelling voice modulating from loud to soft and back again in a single sustained gesture – made his Edgardo a credible and tender love match. His final Act III aria Fra poco a me ricovero – in which he pines for refuge in the Ravenswood family crypt – was certainly among the highlights of the evening.

    • A tenor whose star has been ascending for a while now is that of Spanish-born Xabier Anduaga, here as Edgardo, Lucia’s true love. Making his house debut here in this role, his early interactions were, seemingly, cautious, but his duet with Lucia, ‘Verranno a te sull’aure’, was suitably emotive and his clean, bright tenor palette began to shine. By the time we reached the final act at the crypt, he produced a most excellent ‘Tombe degli avi miei / fra poco a me ricovero’ with beautifully nuanced phrasing, and his final scenes with the departed Lucia where he elects to join her, are genuinely heart-rending, especially where he peppers his phrases with divine sotto voci. He even infused his laments with what I interpreted as being a high ‘D’, albeit it falsetto. This was the first time I experienced this tenor live and I look forward to hearing him more. I have no doubt that the Royal Opera House, along with other houses, will be eager to engage him further.

    • And, almost miraculously, here he is, in the form of Spanish-born Xabier Anduaga, making a debonaire house debut with his expansive, deliciously sonorous and richly textured voice. As Edgardo, Lucia's secret lover, he has plenty to do, but already I cannot wait to hear more of him. He is still under 30. Watch him – and hear him – wing his way through the Italian repertoire in years to come. It promises to be a terrific flight.

    • Making his ROH debut [in this role] this time is the young Spanish tenor Xabier Anduaga, as Edgardo, who also has everything in the kitbag: clarion high notes, swagger as well as subtlety, and unashamedly soars above the Act III sextet.

  • Lucia di Lammermoor

    Amigos Canarios de la Ópera
    Jun 2023

    • El cuarto título de la 59 temporada de los Amigos Canarios de la Ópera, Lucia di Lammermoor, estuvo marcado por el debut en el papel de Edgardo de Xabier Anduaga. En uno de los roles para tenor paradigmáticos del belcanto italiano, el joven tenor vasco arrasó por su exhibición de facultades canoras e interpretativas. Con una voz de tenor lírico-ligero de hermosísima pasta, admirablemente colocada, que corría cómodamente y resultaba audible en cualquier momento y tesitura, trátese de arias, dúos, o conjuntos, como el famoso sexteto del segundo acto, exhibió una línea de canto impecable, arropada por una interpretación arrolladora, dentro del más puro belcantismo, que culminó en una escena final “Tombe degli avi miei” y su cabaletta “Tu che a dio spiegasti l’alli”, con sus arduas frases en el registro agudo, para no olvidar. [Translated] The fourth title of the 59th season of the Amigos Canarios de la Ópera, Lucia di Lammermoor, was marked by the debut of Xabier Anduaga in the role of Edgardo. In one of the paradigmatic roles for tenor of the Italian bel canto , the young Basque tenor swept the audience by his exhibition of singing and interpretative faculties. With a lyric-light tenor voice of very beautiful, admirably placed, which ran comfortably and was audible at any time and tessitura, whether in arias, duets, or ensembles, such as the famous sextet of the second act, he exhibited an impeccable singing line, She was surrounded by an overwhelming interpretation, within the purest bel canto, which culminated in a final scene "Tombe degli avi miei" and her cabaletta "Tu che a dio spiegasti l'alli", with its arduous phrases in the high register, not to be forgotten.

  • L'elisir d'amore

    Metropolitan Opera
    Apr 2023 - May 2023

    • “Una furtiva lagrima,” with its teary sighs and bursts of joy, is one of those arias, and when the 27-year-old Spanish tenor Xabier Anduaga sang it on Sunday in the Metropolitan Opera’s revival of Donizetti’s frolicsome comedy “L’Elisir d’Amore,” time seemed to stop. Cutting a lonely figure in a field against a midnight-blue sky, he sang with enchanting beauty. He took the second verse in a beguilingly soft tone and rounded out the cadenza with a convincing messa di voce — one more polished than the rendition captured on video last week. Anduaga’s soigné style, and vibrant yet plangent timbre, made him an uncommonly sensitive Nemorino — more of a melancholy-prone Werther scribbling poeticisms in a notebook than a sunny country bumpkin mooning over his beloved. His gracefully produced sound nevertheless carried wonderfully throughout the Met’s vast auditorium, and his acting, subtly charming instead of cloyingly eager, was of a piece with his voice.

    • A Star in the Making Making a sensational Met debut was Spanish tenor Xabier Anduaga as Nemorino. The lovelorn country boy was embodied with youthful vulnerability finely belied by Anduaga’s rich yet sensitive instrument. These qualities made for an endearing rendition of “Quanto e bella, quanto e cara,” capped off with a gorgeous, pianissimo cadenza delivered with casual ease as Anduaga stood with his hands in his pockets and his crestfallen gaze cast downwards. This opening aria was a truly fitting aperitif for what was to follow over the performance. After making himself scarce while Belcore tried to woo Adina, he emerged from the background to engage with Aleksandra Kurzak for their duet “Chiedi all’aura lusinghiera,” where he took up her melody with sorrow for his own state and great affection towards her. This, and their playful bantering which followed as Nemorino showed himself bold enough to grab her by the skirt, helped show that there were genuine feelings between the two before any dubious love potions became involved. Beyond the pining, Anduaga also reveled in comedic moments such as when he budged around the crowd for Adina’s story, and when he began his drunken escapades about the town. As the antics of the evening wore to an end, his rendition of “Una furtiva lagrima” struck a delectable balance between love and bewilderment as Anduaga was led by these feelings about the stage. In the past I have seen tenors prepare the passages leading up to the final pianissimo with remarkable sweetness and to splendid effect; here Anduaga’s voice was tinged by Nemorino’s conflict in ways that highlighted the multitude of emotions that ensued, and it was the way his firm tenor broke so beautifully into the second repetition of “si puo morir…” that captured both the strength and the vulnerability of love as he achingly closed the phrase. The showstopping applause Anduaga received was a splendid toast to this tenor’s debut on the Metropolitan Opera stage.

    • The debut of 27-year-old Spanish tenor Xabier Anduaga added additional glamour, vocal and otherwise, that all but brought the show to a halt after his lyrical, heartfelt “Una furtiva lagrima”. The Met has an impressive roster of lyrical tenors and Anduaga is in the sturdy house tradtion. Just as Almaviva was the perfect role to introduce Juan Diego Flórez to Met audiences, Nemorino is likewise for Anduaga. From the first phrases of Nemorino’s first-act aria, “Quanto è bella, quanto è cara”, in which the simple peasant expresses his love for the sophisticated, wealthy Adina, you knew that you were experiencing something wonderful. Anduaga posses a particularly rich lyric tenor with a vocal presence that enables his voice to soar into the house. The role of Nemorino doesn’t call for vocal fireworks, but it does call for expressing emotion through Donizetti’s incomparable marriage of text and music. That’s a quality that Anduaga has in spades. It is not only the golden richness of his voice that excites, but also his musicianship. In the last line of his first aria, Anduaga tapered a phrase to the lightest and most beautiful of pianissimi, employed sparingly but to great effect. Anduaga is also a subtle actor with a winning combination of charm and looks. He puckered up his face in a heartbreaking pout as Adina taunted him by flirting with the dashing Sargent Belcore. A raise of the tenor’s eyebrows expressed chagrin or surprise to equal effect. Intoxicated by the less-than-magical qualities of Dulcamara’s elixir, Anduaga’s Nemorino was bold and brash, but never obnoxious. His bumpkin emerged triumphant, if perhaps no less worldly, at the opera’s end, but with the girl he adored.

    • Tenor Xabier Anduaga made his debut at the Met in the role of Nemorino. With experience in important theaters despite his youth, Anduaga did not feel the pressure and achieved undisputed success, with the audience cheering intensely after the aria "Una furtiva lagrima", and applauding him very warmly in the final greetings. It was no wonder. Anduaga offered an endearing and credible Nemorino. The artist was imaginative, curious and detail-oriented in acting but, above all, he sang very well in a theater where good tenors are not abundant. The best thing about Anduaga's singing is the homogeneity in the register, the naturalness of the intonation and the taste in the singing line. Something overly imposed on the ariosos, Anduaga's voice was displayed healthy and exultant, but he also knows how to retreat with mastery, showing an unusual mastery of bel canto. Perhaps the most exciting moment was that “Una furtiva lagrima”, in which Xabier Anduaga 's inspired legato returned the Met to bygone eras, where great voices stopped time on stage. For a moment it seemed to us as if Anduaga stopped being Nemorino, and was Xabier, the Spanish singer raised in the San Sebastian choir, climbing a key step in his career as a bel canto tenor. The musicality that the artist offered during the aria, with impeccable delivery and splendid taste considering his youth, were highlighted by a chiseled messa di voce, which excited the New York public. Opera singers do not go to the Met to make themselves known, they go to the Met to establish themselves as international figures of opera. New York audiences, accustomed to seeing the names of the most famous singers (not necessarily the best) on the billboard, tend to respond coldly to less famous singers. That is why this enormous success of Xabier Anduaga in New York has an importance whose effects will not take long to materialize in the career of the talented Basque tenor.

  • La Sonnambula

    Teatro Real Madrid
    Dec 2022 - Jan 2023

    • El gozo que supone escucharle en una voz como la de Xabier Anduaga supone un auténtico lujo. Pocas veces, quien escribe, ha podido arrobarse los sentidos con un personaje masculino en el bel canto como al escuchar este Elvino. Puritani, Viva la Mamma, Cenerentola, Lucrezia Borgia, Kenilworth... Habiendo dejado ya atrás a Rossini y con Edgardo como una de sus próximas metas, el bel canto supone el lugar natural de Anduaga. Su voz se desplegó aquí tan portentosa como voluble, un auténtico derroche cánoro atento, no obstante, a dinámicas y filigranas. Prendi l'anel ti dono y la segunda parte de la escena, en esa suerte de dúo bipartito que supone la página, con su cabaletta final, supuso un momento de auténtica magia y suspensión, de las que a uno se le agarran con fuerza a la memoria de las emociones. Si eso no es la ópera, no sé muy bien qué podría serlo. Agudos pletóricos, torrente en el volumen, morbidezza de lo más sugestiva en el registro medio y una variedad suficiente en el decir que dotaron de humanidad a su personaje... y suponiendo el debut del mismo. El Elvino de Anduaga lo tiene, ya, todo. [Translated] The joy that comes from listening to him in a voice like that of Xabier Anduaga is a real luxury. Rarely has a writer been able to enthrall his senses with a male character in bel canto as when listening to this Elvino. Puritani , Viva la Mamma , Cenerentola , Lucrezia Borgia , Kenilworth ... Having already left Rossini behind and with Edgardo as one of his next goals, bel canto is Anduaga's natural place. His voice was deployed here as portentous as it was voluble, a true canoral waste attentive, however, to dynamics and filigrees. I turned on l'anel ti dono and the second part of the scene, in that kind of two-part duet that the page represents, with its final cabaletta , represented a moment of authentic magic and suspension, the kind that makes one hold on tightly to the memory of emotions. If that's not opera, I don't know what is. Plethoric treble, torrent in the volume, most suggestive morbidezza in the middle register and a sufficient variety in the speech that gave humanity to his character... and assuming his debut. Elvino de Anduaga already has it all.

    • Tenor Xabier Anduaga was Elvino. I think he has ceased to be a promising young singer and is now a reality, and he should be treated and demanded as such. It is good to remember that this coming spring he will make his debut in Paris (I puritani) and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (L’elisir d’amore). His voice has great quality: remarkable volume, brilliant projection, great homogeneity and no problems in the top notes, which are very bright. There are two aspects where he must improve in order to become an even greater artist, and they are elegance in phrasing and expressiveness, where he still leaves something to be desired.

    • L'accompagnement orchestral diminue, ses intentions nuancées font sentir cette douleur profonde de son cœur qui se meut en une triste colère. Une interprétation si convaincante qu’elle déchaîne une acclamation du public, qui ne cesse d’applaudir et de pousser d’exultants bravi jusqu'à ce que l’artiste salue devant le rideau. [Translated] As the orchestral accompaniment diminishes, his nuanced intentions make us feel this deep pain in his heart which moves into sad anger. A performance so convincing that it unleashes a cheer from the audience, who continue to applaud and shout exultant bravi until the artist bows in front of the curtain.

  • Recital

    Teatro de la Zarzuela
    Jun 2022

    • La expectación y las ganas de disfrutar de una buena velada de canto impregnaban un Teatro de la Zarzuela abarrotado de un público dispuesto a dejarse conquistar una vez más por el tenor Xabier Anduaga, pero también con los oídos afilados para no dejarle pasar ni una. No en vano se ha convertido el joven tenor donostiarra en una de las voces más importantes del mundo en su registro. Además, el programa elegido constaba de nada más y nada menos que diez romanzas de zarzuela y tres canciones de concierto con poco lugar para el reposo, merced a unas breves piezas para piano. Es decir, que Anduaga salió a demostrar no sólo de lo que es capaz sino también la importancia que otorgaba a este recital y su respeto por este teatro. El despliegue de medios vocales fue realmente apabullante de principio a fin, lo cual demuestra no sólo el excelente estado de forma de Anduaga sino también su sabiduría en la dosificación y elección del repertorio. Aunque, sin duda, la juventud ayuda, es imposible acabar un recital como este con la voz absolutamente fresca si todos los ingredientes necesarios no están en perfectas condiciones. Desde esas primeras Bella enamorada (El último romántico) de Soutullo y Vert y De este apacible rincón de Madrid (Luisa Fernanda) de Moreno Torroba, ya se marcó la tónica de la noche: poderío vocal, control de los registros, buena línea de canto y enorme generosidad. Acabo como empecé, reiterando que Xabier Anduaga es una de las voces más importantes del mundo en su registro. Para empezar, es una VOZ, así, en mayúsculas, de las que llenan el teatro sin problema ninguno, que algunos nos negamos a que lo normal sea acostumbrarse a tener que sacar la trompetilla. Naturalmente aún puede mejorar, y lo hará dada su juventud y el tino con el que está haciendo las cosas, pero más en lo expresivo que en lo técnico, para obtener contrastes aún mayores o matices aún más sutiles. La madurez empieza a llegar y se nota que cada vez se apropia cada vez más de las partituras e interioriza más los textos. En cuanto a la evolución de la voz, está claro que sus graves han ganado cuerpo y que se anuncia un futuro no lejano de tenor lírico. Pero él y su entorno saben cuándo y cómo dar los pasos para ampliar el repertorio. Lo ha hecho estupendamente hasta ahora y confiamos en que nos regale muchos años de disfrute. [Translated] The expectation and the desire to enjoy a good evening of singing permeated a crowded Teatro de la Zarzuela with an audience ready to be conquered once again by the tenor Xabier Anduaga, but also with sharp ears to not let him miss a single one. Not in vain has the young tenor from San Sebastian become one of the most important voices in the world in his register. In addition, the chosen program consisted of no more and no less than ten zarzuela romanzas and three concert songs with little room for rest, thanks to some brief piano pieces. In other words, Anduaga came out to demonstrate not only what he is capable of but also the importance he attached to this recital and his respect for this theater. The display of vocal means was truly overwhelming from beginning to end, which demonstrates not only Anduaga's excellent form but also his wisdom in the dosage and choice of repertoire. Although, no doubt, youth helps, it is impossible to finish a recital like this one with an absolutely fresh voice if all the necessary ingredients are not in perfect condition. From those first Bella enamorada(El último romántico) by Soutullo y Vert and De este apacible rincón de Madrid (Luisa Fernanda) by Moreno Torroba, the tone of the evening was set: vocal power, control of the registers, good singing line and enormous generosity. I end as I began, reiterating that Xabier Anduaga is one of the most important voices in the world in his register. To begin with, he is a VOICE, in capital letters, the kind that fills the theater without any problem, that some of us refuse to get used to having to take out the trumpet. Naturally she can still improve, and will do so given her youth and the skill with which she is doing things, but more in the expressive than in the technical, to obtain even greater contrasts or even more subtle nuances. Maturity is beginning to arrive and it is noticeable that she is taking more and more ownership of the scores and internalizing the texts more and more. As for the evolution of his voice, it is clear that his basses have gained body and that a not distant future as a lyric tenor is in sight. But he and his entourage know when and how to take steps to expand his repertoire. He has done a marvelous job so far and we trust he will give us many years of enjoyment.