Opera Star Erwin Schrott Releases Rojotango Debut Album on Sony Classical

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A Passionate Tribute to the Music of his Native South America

The South American bass-baritone Erwin Schrott, who gained international notoriety with his convincing interpretations of Mozart roles (as Don Giovanni, Leporello and Figaro), is now considered one of the leading opera stars of his generation. Erwin Schrott releases Rojotango, his Sony Classical debut album devoted to the music of Latin America on Tuesday, April 19, 2011.

Rojotango is a highly personal album for Erwin Schrott and presents a new facet of his vocal artistry. The recording features tangos by Astor Piazzolla and Pablo Ziegler, as well as folk songs from Argentina and Brazil. Schrott reveals a passion for the music that he has known since his early childhood - music that for him symbolizes home and has helped shape him as a man and a musician. The dark, velvety and sensuous timbre of his voice seems destined to explore the passion, melancholy and erotic power of tango.

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Erwin Schrott made his opera debut at the age of twenty-two as Roucher in Andrea Chénier. Then in 1998, he won first prize and the audience award in the international OPERALIA competition, founded by Plácido Domingo. Since then Schrott has starred in many important roles in the greatest opera houses around the world.

Along with the Argentinean pianist, composer and arranger Pablo Ziegler and his quartet, Erwin Schrott has some of the most experienced and renowned musicians in this repertoire by his side. In his home town of Buenos Aires, Pablo Ziegler met Astor Piazzolla, the grandmaster of tango Nuevo. As a young man, Ziegler played for a decade in Piazzolla’s famous New Tango Quintet. Regarded as the driving force of tango nuevo today, Ziegler arranged the compositions on Rojotango, contributed original pieces and accompanied Schrott on the piano.

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