It has been a triumphant year for Rolando Villazón, appropriately crowned at Berlin’s Konzerthaus on 6 October with the “Best Solo Recording/Voice (arias/recitals)” award for his highly-praised Villazón Verdi tribute at Germany’s 20th ECHO Klassik ceremony. The star tenor not only collected the prestigious solo artist prize, but also performed and co-hosted the annual event, for the second time, with TV presenter Nina Eichinger. Both share, as live broadcaster ZDF noted, a “contagious passion for classical music”. With Villazón’s naturally humorous stage presence he kept the audience spellbound throughout the evening. It was almost as if he were channelling Mozart, with whom he shares the same effervescent temperament. Now the singer is putting the focus squarely on his most beloved of composers: The coming year will be “all Mozart, all the time,” Villazón proclaims, and presents his new CD, Mozart Concert Arias – a collection of rarely recorded concert arias for tenor written by the genius composer, recorded with Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra. The CD is slated for international release in January 2014.