XabierAnduaga

Press

• La Traviata

  Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

  Jul 2026

  • Xabier Anduaga was the revelation of the evening. The young Spanish tenor combines lyrical elegance with effortless vocal brilliance and a remarkably natural stage presence. Although already well established internationally, he was one of my own most exciting operatic discoveries in recent years, and certainly a singer whose career I will continue to follow closely.

    • Opera Diary
    • 12 July 2026

• Werther

  Liceu Barcelona

  May 2026

  • Xabier Anduaga triumphs in Werther His portrayal of the role is exemplary, both in the quality of the performance and the character's embodiment. At the end of "Pourquoi me réveiller," the audience is truly in a trance; torrents of shouts and applause compel him to encore the aria, which he finishes before a completely delirious crowd. And 10 minutes of applause at the final bows, which is rare at the Liceu, clearly shows what was exceptional about the performance: at the end of the show, it can be said that Xabier Anduaga is widely adopted by the public as one of the great tenors of the moment.

    • Forum Opera
    • 12 May 2027

  • Xabier Anduaga makes a triumphant debut as Werther in Barcelona This was Xabier Anduaga’s debut in the character of Werther, and someone of my age cannot help but recall the great Alfredo Kraus’s interpretation. That memory is a handicap for any current Werther to overcome. Anduaga’s Werther had two different parts. In the first two acts, Anduaga was consistently brilliant with a voice perfectly suited to the role, although I missed a greater depth in his vocal interpretation. The second part, however, was magnificent in every way. ‘Pourquoi me réveiller’ was unsurpassed, and the audience’s enthusiasm led them to clamor for an encore which they received, and Anduaga was again superb. His performance in the death scene was also excellent, despite some strange and absurd presences. Anduaga is on the right track, and his Werther will only improve.

    • Seen and Heard
    • 12 May 2026

  • Anduaga seems to truly inhabit the character he is portraying. It is, after all, the first opera in which he sings the title role, without a Lucia, an Adina, or an Amina stealing the spotlight. Last night at the Liceu, the Basque-born tenor seemed to finally enter a new acting dimension, undoubtedly with much room for further development as he fully embodies the character with each successive performance. But we had never before heard Anduaga phrase and express himself with such truth, with such authenticity. This is also due to the ideal match between his vocal technique and the French language, so challenging for some singers, with which Anduaga seems to have found a perfect fit. Listening to his Werther, it was impossible not to already be thinking about how his Des Grieux, even his Faust or his Nadir, would sound when the time comes. In short, an outstanding debut that confirms the extraordinary progress of a tenor with first-rate talent, whom we hope to see grow and mature as a singer for many years to come. Bravo, Xabier.

    • Platea
    • 12 May 2026

• La Traviata

  Wiener Staatsoper

  Feb 2026

  • The regular audience was particularly attentive because of Xabier Anduaga. As expected, Anduaga's Alfredo was the star of this performance: with youthful exuberance and a powerful, lyrical tenor voice, he won over the audience. His voice revels in youthful richness, the timbre is meltingly rich, saturated with southern temperament, without ever becoming overbearing. There is never a sense that the singer is trying to extract more from his tenor than he is capable of giving – and he crowned the "O mio riomorso" with a long, sustained high note as if it were the most natural thing in the world. In his acting, Anduaga perfectly embodied the young, lovestruck fellow who, given the circumstances, is emotionally overwhelmed.

    • Online Merker
    • 03 February 2026

• Teatro Real Madrid Gala Recital

  Teatro Real Madrid

  Dec 2025

  • The year 2025 culminated happily at the Teatro Real with a Christmas gala starring tenor Xabier Anduaga and pianist Maciej Pikulski . The two artists presented a program they had already rehearsed, showcasing a wide variety of genres and styles. Anduaga was thus able to display an instrument naturally situated in a register very close to that of a pure lyric tenor, yet bearing the indelible mark of the livia di grazia , with a homogeneous voice, dazzling and precise attacks, ascents to the high notes with apparent ease, and noble and courageous singing in the forte . Bellini's La Ricordanza opened the evening with a strong operatic flavor, long phrases, and expressive embellishments that demand ample breath control and remarkable delicacy: a mission more than accomplished, one of the highlights of the recital. Three songs by Tosti gave him the opportunity for generous, perfectly legato singing, with elegant and evocative popular touches. The fearsome “Tombe degli avi miei” from Lucia di Lammermoor was delivered with extraordinary confidence, without hesitation or subtlety. However, “La donna è mobile ,” though very well sung, lacked a certain expressiveness and theatrical risk: the Duke won't get very far in his conquests with such technical singing. In his Three Sonnets of Petrarch , Franz Liszt attempted to combine the impossible: Romantic expressiveness with the classical restraint of the Italian poet, and for that very reason, they are always captivating to listen to. Anduaga emerged triumphant from this challenge. Intelligently, he presented an operatic reading, given the vocal resources employed, while simultaneously maintaining an analytical and somewhat abstract approach, which suits these songs perfectly. With Reynaldo Hahn and three of his songs—among the best known—the tenor, recipient of the 2021 ÓPERA ACTUAL Award , ventured into complex territory, which is commendable: the result was convincing, although a lack of variety in expression and the use of half-voices was noticeable. This was not compensated for by the overly frequent use of falsetto or the abrupt shifts in dynamics, which interrupted a vocal line that Anduaga, on the other hand, commands perfectly. "Nothing failed here: neither the extension of the voice, nor the projection, nor the burnished and homogeneous metallic tone." With a romance from Los gavilanes and especially with “No puede ser” from La tabernera del puerto , the recital reached its expressive peak: finally, the explosion of emotions the audience had been waiting for erupted. Nothing was lacking: not range, projection, or a polished, homogeneous timbre. Exquisite renditions. As an encore, the tenor offered the popular “Adiós Granada” from Calleja and Barrera’s zarzuela Emigrantes , a piece that demands both sentimental, even melodramatic, emotion and Spanish-style vocal virtuosity. An excellent performance that earned him a standing ovation. At the piano, Maciej Piluski , energetic, vibrant, and highly expressive, provided the warmth that the singer occasionally lacked. He also performed with outstanding ease and elegance the impossible, due to the virtuosity required, Concert Paraphrase from Rigoletto by Liszt. He also shone with a restrained and warm rendition, again by Liszt, of a Lied from Schubert's Schwanengesang , the most Christmassy moment of the entire evening. A great success, with an audience clearly captivated, and rightly so, by the talent of Xabier Anduaga.

    • Opera Actual
    • 19 December 2025

• La Sonnambula

  Parterre

  Oct 2025

  • Xabier Anduaga returned to the Met for the first time since his debut in 2023. The Spaniard’s demeanor throughout the evening was one of restraint and jealousy, but also playfulness, especially in his duets with Sierra. You could tell that Elvino was attempting to break free from his constraints of this society as well. Vocally, he had all the goods of a great bel canto singer. His opening “Prendi: l’anel ti dono” was sung with an exquisite tone that flowed with elegance from one line to the next. He could easily build a line from a forte and decrescendo to a piano with ease, and his coloratura lines were accurate. On the repeat, when his voice joined with Sierra’s, Anduaga sang with ardor and some gorgeous pianissimi, especially on the phrase “Il tuo con me restò.” The following “Ah! vorrei trovar parole” was sung with a bright tone and some virtuosic, gleaming high notes that resonated potently in the auditorium. In the duet, “Son geloso del zefiro errante,” as noted, he and Sierra sang with blended tones that had gentleness and made for one of the most memorable moments in the opera. Meanwhile, his anger and pain came through in “D’un pensiero e d’un accento,” which was then emphasized further with accented phrases on “Non piu nozze.” In the “Non è questa, ingrato core” he sang each line with precision. His big scene, “Tutto e sciolto,” saw the tenor’s opening phrase emphasize a tearful Elvino with a pure pianissimo sound. Upon seeing Sierra’s Amina, the anger returned with the tenor singing with a commanding fortissimo and driving the tempo forward, all while interpolating some incredibly impressive high notes. In his cadenza, “Sono, o cruda, e il son per te,” Anduaga used his time and spaced out each line slowly dying down and ending the aria with a heart-felt pianissimo.

    • Operawire
    • 08 October 2025

  • The adorably boyish Basque tenor Xabier Anduaga conquered the impossibly high tessitura of Elvino, albeit in the usual lowered keys of the Ricordi score, replete with high C’s and D-flats, with a surprisingly rich, mellow, and sweet lyric tenor which bears a resemblance to the young José Carreras (before Karajan, leukemia and the wobble) but with an irresistible tonal brilliance all its own. His characterization of Elvino was a little stolid and inflexible but that, I think, is Villazón’s conception of the male protagonist. Both soprano and tenor phrased with musicality and grace – their duets were unalloyed pleasure. The audience could not get enough of them and were vociferous in their approval throughout.

    • Parterre
    • 08 October 2025

• 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.

    • Seen and Heard
    • 22 April 2024

  • 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.

    • Opera Wire
    • 25 April 2024

  • 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.

    • Culture Whisper
    • 21 April 2024

  • 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.

    • The Times
    • 22 April 2024

• 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.

    • New York Times
    • 18 April 2023

  • 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.

    • Operawire
    • 19 February 2024

  • 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.

    • New York Classical Review
    • 14 April 2023

  • 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.

    • Opera World
    • 16 April 2023