Catalan countertenor Xavier Sabata has performed at many of the world’s most distinguished opera houses, including Teatro Real Madrid, the Liceu in Barcelona, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the Wiener Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien and the Grand Théâtre de Genève.
His repertoire spans from Cavalli and Monteverdi and the heroes of Baroque opera seria to contemporary works. He is a noted interpreter of Handel’s title roles — among them Orlando, Giulio Cesare and Rinaldo — and of Monteverdi, from Ottone in L’incoronazione di Poppea to the world premiere of L’enigma di Lea at the Liceu. He has worked with leading directors and conductors including Claus Guth, Calixto Bieito, Leonardo García Alarcón and Pablo Heras-Casado.
He has appeared with such ensembles as Les Arts Florissants, Europa Galante, Collegium 1704, the Venice Baroque Orchestra and Il Pomo d’Oro, and collaborates regularly with conductors such as Fabio Biondi, Jordi Savall, Alan Curtis, Andrea Marcon, George Petrou, Maxim Emelyanychev and Ivor Bolton. He performs at major international concert venues and festivals including the Salzburg Festival, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music and the Halle, Göttingen and Dresden festivals.
He has a particularly close association with the Spanish group Vespres d’Arnadi and Dani Espasa, with whom he recorded inVISIBILI, spotlighting forgotten Baroque works. His extensive discography, under labels including Virgin Classics/EMI and Decca, features Handel’s operas Faramondo, Arminio and Ottone, the multi-award-winning Alessandro and the title role in Tamerlano. The Guardian described his solo disc Bad Guys as ranking ‘among the most intelligent and striking recital discs of recent years’. His passion for Lied has also led him to record Schubert’s Winterreise for Berlin Classics.
Alongside his singing career, Xavier has increasingly turned to other creative work, developing and curating personal projects including one-man shows, and working as a director. He made his directing debut with Handel’s Rinaldo — also singing the title role — at the Halle Handel Festival with Capella Cracoviensis, and has directed and starred in Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire at the Liceu, co-produced with the Teatro Real and the Teatro de la Abadía in Madrid. He has also performed a staged Winterreise created with director Rafael R. Villalobos.
