Danish tenor Valdemar Villadsen has appeared in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Danish Opera, Wiesbaden State Opera, Kiel Opera House, Teatro Principal de Burgos, Rossini Festival, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Heinrich Schütz Musikfest, Festival de Música Antigua, Bergen International Festival, Copenhagen Opera Festival and Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden. He has performed acclaimed solo recitals in Paris, Rome, Istanbul, Berlin and Basel.
His opera roles include Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Lindoro in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri, Arnold in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, Gualtiero in Bellini’s Il pirata, Castor in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux, title role in Rameau’s Pigmalion, Glaucus in Leclair’s Scylla et Glaucus, Apollo in Cavalli’s Gli amori d’Apollo e di Dafne, Seth in Franz Danksagmüller’s Nova – Imperfecting Perfection, Asger in Signe Lykke’s Nordkraft, Adam in Svend Nielsen’s Chains and Officer in Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten.
Villadsen is a sought-after concert and oratorio singer, and he has particularly made a name for himself as a Bach Evangelist. He has appeared in Bach’s Passions in Sweden, Denmark, United Kingdom, Iceland, Switzerland, Italy and Germany (including the Berliner Philharmonie). He is also sought-after for the demanding tenor part in Orff’s Carmina Burana.
Villadsen has worked with conductors such as Giancarlo Andretta, Julius Rudel, Christian Vásquez, Fabio Luisi, Alessandro Amoretti, Christina Pluhar, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Paul Hillier, Václav Luks, Andrew Lawrence-King, Carlos Mena, Javier Illan, Benjamin Bayl, Sirrka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch, David Riddell, Mark Tatlow, Christian Kluxen, Matthew Toogood, Stefan Parkman, Johannes Gustavsson, Peter Spissky, Florian Helgath, Johannes Wildner and Zsolt Hamar, and with opera directors such as Vasily Barkhatov, Lucinda Childs, Elisabeth Linton and Sir David McVicar.
Recent pre-pandemic engagements include Glaucus in Leclair’s Scylla et Glaucus in Kiel (co-production with Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles), Seth in the world premiere of Franz Danksagmüller’s opera Nova – Imperfecting Perfection in Dortmund, the Evangelist in Bach’s St Matthew Passion in Iceland, Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, a solo concert with the Concerto Copenhagen in Rome, Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine at the Berliner Philharmonie and Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in Potsdam and Ghent with L’Arpeggiata.
Season 2021/22 included Asger (a role written specifically for Villadsen) in the world premiere of Signe Lykke’s award-winning opera Nordkraft at the Royal Danish Opera and Copenhagen Opera Festival, Gualtiero in Bellini’s Il pirata at the Open Air Opera Berlin, the Bel Canto Opera Gala Concert in Zaragoza Concert Hall, Mozart’s Requiem, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater and Handel’s Messiah with the South Denmark Philharmonics as well as several Bach concerts throughout Europe.
Season 2022/23 includes the solo concert series Valdemar Villadsen in Concert at several opera and music festivals throughout Europe, Rossini opera concerts in Madrid, Zaragoza and Oviedo, contemporary music concerts in Bonn, Handel’s Messiah with the Berlin Baroque Orchestra, Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium with the South Denmark Philharmonic, Arbace in Mozart’s Idomeneo at Open Air Opera Berlin as well as the Evangelist in several Bach Passions in Germany and France.
In 2021, Villadsen released his first single Valdemar Villadsen & Friends, featuring Renaissance music, on the Italian record label Halidon Music. A full solo album is expected to be released in 2023.
Villadsen is also an accomplished stage director. He has directed plays, cabaret shows and opera productions at venues such as the Hamburger Kammeroper, InnovationArt Theatre in Berlin and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.
Valdemar Villadsen currently resides in Berlin.