It is not a cliché: Xabier Anduaga (Donostia, 1995) is the great young tenor of the moment. Trained at Musikene and polished by bel canto masters, he belongs to the lineage of tenors who combine youth with surprisingly mature technique, which has given him an international passport. Since winning Operalia in 2019, he lives between airports, dressing rooms, and applause. The Liceu hosts his debut as Werther, Goethe’s poet who also commits suicide in Jules Massenet’s opera. It starts this Saturday, May 2, with an exclusive Under35 performance, and runs until May 17.
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This is a trial by fire.
I feel a great responsibility, almost all the roles I sing are leading roles that have been sung by Kraus, Carreras, Domingo, Aragall… The greatest tenors who have been references since the beginning of my career. And this Werther, who is the main character of this opera, what they call the title role , I face it with great enthusiasm. It comes at a moment in my career when I feel capable of facing it.
What did you feel you were missing?
The maturity to face an opera from beginning to end, to maintain tension without overdoing it, that is, to find balance, which is the most complicated thing in this type of roles, and to show people the different faces of Werther in each act. I am 30 years old. At 25 I did not feel I had that maturity: I was prepared to do important roles, but maybe not to carry so much weight. I look very young, but this year marks 10 years since my debut.
I have always felt very close to the warmth of Carreras’ voice, his technique, what he conveys with his gaze”
Which of those tenors do you feel most reflected in?
Depending on the role I sing, but for me – and for all tenors – Carreras has been a reference. I have always felt very close to the warmth of his voice, his technique, what he conveys with his voice, with his gaze. He is one of the greatest in history.
You rub shoulders with today’s greats. What advice do they give you?
Since I won Plácido Domingo’s Operalia in 2019, I have been at galas and had the opportunity to sing with Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Piotr Beczala…, people who are opera history. And with the latter, I remember talking in New York recently about the repertoire, and he told me he thinks I am doing things well in this regard. Nadine Sierra, with whom I have done titles, has also told me this. Considering them friends has helped me a lot.
How do you handle the pressure of the stage? Is there stage fright?
I think we all have it, and anyone who says they don’t is lying. Maybe Plácido, but he is not human. Comparing yourself to him is like comparing yourself to Messi. When you stand in front of two thousand people, it’s not to sing at 25% but at 100%, and if I’m at 95, it annoys me and you get nervous. But much of my career I have done very unconsciously, because I debuted at 20 and didn’t even know where I was. My wife, who is my teacher, has been with me from the beginning and we have gone everywhere together. And she says to me, are you aware of how well you sang that in 2018, when you debuted at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires? And I don’t remember, I lived in a bubble of going here, studying, singing and going… Having done many things without realizing it mentally has been very good: I was a bit freer. Now I feel I have more control, which maybe it wouldn’t be good to lose sometimes.
You are creating Werther with Christof Loy, the stage director. Does he help you lose control?
We have talked about the character from the novel and Massenet’s, and we agree that he is a completely romantic person, an unbalanced one. With Loy we have achieved a balance between the beginning and the end, always seeing Werther’s love as unconditional, although chaotic. He is changeable: everything seems wrong when they say no, everything seems right when they say yes.
Is there anything particularly difficult that Loy demands?
Smiling. I thought I was smiling, but from the beginning I was already immersed in Werther’s torment. You had to go from happy to that despair of wanting to kill yourself, and I already entered the stage very sad. I don’t know if it’s because I’m Basque and we are somewhat serious, but I found it hard to smile. Smiling while singing is complicated. It works well for some things, for others not so much.
Wow, it breaks me if I have to choose between Messi and Plácido. But we need Plácido, Carreras or Pavarotti”
You are very much a football fan. From Real Sociedad to the death. If you still didn’t know Plácido and had to choose between meeting him or Messi…?
Wow, that just broke me… [thinks]. I choose Plácido, because Plácido has opened the world of opera to all of us, because he has left a legacy that will be impossible to repeat. I would keep watching Messi on TV, but we need Plácido, Carreras or Pavarotti.
Is football music?
Real Sociedad and music have been with me since I was born. There were musicians in my family. There were records of the three tenors and I grew up listening to the most famous arias. But football is my passion. And I have always seen harmony in football, having to play as a team for things to go well, just like in opera. Werther is a very important character, but his relationship with Charlotte, Sophie, Albert, everyone, is just as important, and making it all come together as a complete show.
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Your father is a musician.
Accordionist and music teacher. And my grandfather played instruments for himself and no one taught him, and he sang very well… And also my maternal grandmother, who is like my guardian angel, retired to take care of me when I was born. They never forced me to do anything. I studied music because I had to study something, but all the instruments. I can’t stand the accordion, at home I was the odd one out, knife and stick. And I liked to sing, and I joined the church choir like my sister. And at eight years old they tested me at the Orfeón Donostiarra.
Do you have memories of hearing your grandmother sing when you were little?
Yes. And when she now sings to my two-year-old son, I don’t know if I remember what she sang to me, but it gives me an emotion that nothing else does. It is the most beautiful thing that has happened to me in life. I give back everything else.
Talk about your sentimental education. What books did you read?
I have been very basic. I read all the football books. And I am a fan of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. Not forgetting Spider-Man. Marvel was another world. I have been more into superheroes, things like that, more trivial. Although there were always love stories.
Have you experienced unrequited love, like Werther?
The first time I fell in love was with my wife. But I see it in people, in friends…. I can understand Werther’s love story because it is everyday life.
Do you always train with your wife or do you diversify?
It is with my wife for the vocal part. Then I have a pianist, who was my teacher at Musikene, with whom I work for all recitals. And who is the pianist for René Fleming, Van Damme. Many.
And how do you work with your partner?
We try not to talk about it. Now it is easier. Because before we didn’t have a child to raise. We had just finished studying, we would go eat and already talk about that note, the high note. What happens is that when you live with a person (she is a soprano) who has left everything and gives her life for you and only wants the best for you, when you are going to argue, you go down three steps and say, have some respect too.
I am shy, but I forget quickly. The hardest part is afterwards, leaving the stage and being with people”
Are you overcoming your shyness with the audience?
Well, I am shy, but I forget quickly. The hardest part is afterwards, leaving the stage and being with people. When they say good things and praise an aria… and I think, yeah, but the aria wasn’t good. If you knew that I am not happy.
What can you reveal about the album you will record in July?
That it will be my first album of bel canto arias that I want to leave recorded because I don’t know how long I will maintain some of them, some I will no longer sing in opera like for example the one from I puritani .
Werther is a door that opens to more dramatic registers. What is next?
Werther is a door, but it will remain a bit closed. We stay there and with Romeo and Faust. And Lucia continues, Rigoletto continues, Traviata continues, L’elisir d’amore continues. La Favorite will also come, but I will not go beyond that. I don’t feel my voice has to go beyond in those five or six years. I will not do Bohème , nor Trovatore nor all that they offer me.
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