Artists

Engagements this season include Bertarido in Handel Rodelinda with Claus Guth under Stefano Montanari at Opéra de Lyon, as well as at Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile; Ottone in a revival of Monteverdi L’incoronazione di Poppea under Diego Fasolis at Staatsoper Unter den Linden; Endimione in La Calisto directed by David Alden with Ivor Bolton at Teatro Real, Madrid; the world première of L’enigma di Lea at Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; Ottone in Handel Agrippina with Il Pomo D’Oro and Maxim Emelyanychev in Turku (Finland).

Last season Xavier sang in Guth’s new Rodelinda production with Ivor Bolton at Teatro Real, Madrid; Ottone in a new production of L’incoronazione di Poppea under Diego Fasolis at Staatsoper Unter den Linden; the title role in Handel Rinaldo on a European tour with Christophe Rousset and the Kammerorchester Basel  including the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, as well as in a new production at the Perelada Festival, and his debut in recital at the Teatro de la Zarzuela Lied Cycle.

After early successes working with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, he now also appears with such ensembles as Europa Galante, Collegium 1704, the Venice Baroque Orchestra, I Barocchisti, Al Ayre Español, El Concierto Español and Orquesta Barroca Sevilla, and collaborates with conductors such as Fabio Biondi, René Jacobs, Jordi Savall, Alan Curtis, Gabriel Garrido, Fabio Bonizzoni, Diego Fasolis, Andrea Marcon, Xavier Dìaz Latorre, Ivor Bolton, George Petrou, Riccardo Minasi, Harry Bicket and Christopher Moulds. He was awarded the Premio Ópera Actual in 2013, and the Premi Tendències d’el Mundo in 2014.

He is a frequent guest at venues such as the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Madrid’s Teatro Real, the Liceu and Palau de la Música in Barcelona, La Fenice in Venice, the Krakow Opera, the Opéra de Lausanne, the Grand Théâtre, Geneva, the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, and at the leading halls in London and New York. His festival appearances have included the Innsbruck Festival für Alte Musik, Aix-en-Provence, Ambronay, the Halle Handel Festival, and the Festival Via Stellae in Santiago de Compostela. His repertoire ranges from Cavalli and Monteverdi, through the heroes of baroque opera seria, to premieres of innovative new works such as Fabrice Bollon’s Oscar und die Dame in Rosa at Theater Freiburg.

His solo recorded programme Bad Guys performed in Caen, Freiburg, Seville and Barcelona received unqualified praise in the press: ‘This ranks among the most intelligent and striking recital discs of recent years’ (The Guardian, London). His recent album Dilettanti also received rave reviews: ‘ …rich and glorious tone, seemingly-limitless breath control and a formidable dramatic sense’ (Early Music News). In the role of Tassile he was part of a Europe-wide tour and recording of Handel Alessandro, which garnered eleven international awards, while his performance of the title role in Handel Tamerlano for Naive Records was a major factor in its continuing acclaim (‘Album of the Week’ in the Sunday Times (13 April 2014), ‘Editor’s Choice’ in the August 2014 edition of Gramophone magazine, and a ‘Melómano d’oro’ award). He participated in the Gala Night of Countertenors team, alongside Max Emanuel Cencic, Yuriy Mynenko and Franco Fagioli, released by DECCA, and performed in Potsdam, Versailles, Karlsruhe and Hamburg.