Catalan countertenor Xavier Sabata trained as an actor at Barcelona’s Institut del Teatre before studying singing at the Escola Superior de Musica Catalunya and at the Musikhochschule, Karlsruhe, where his teachers were Hartmut Höll and Mitsuko Shirai.

Opera productions have led him to the most distinguished opera houses worldwide including Teatro Real Madrid, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Theater an der Wien, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Grand Théâtre de Genève and next season he makes his Wiener Staatsoper debut as Ottone in Monteverdi’s Poppea under Pablo Heras-Casado. In 2019 Xavier was nominated as best male artist in the International Opera Awards.

Sabata's repertoire spans from Cavalli and Monterverdi over the heroes of baroque opera seria to contemporary works. Recent roles have included Bertarido in Handel Rodelinda with Claus Guth under Stefano Montanari at Opéra de Lyon, as well as at Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile; Ottone in a revival of Monteverdi L’incoronazione di Poppea under Diego Fasolis at Staatsoper Unter den Linden; Endimione in La Calisto directed by David Alden with Ivor Bolton at Teatro Real, Madrid; the world premiere of L’enigma di Lea at Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; title role in Handel Rinaldo on a European tour with Christophe Rousset and the Kammerorchester Basel.

He has appeared with such ensembles as Les Arts Florissants, Europa Galante, Collegium 1704, the Venice Baroque Orchestra, Il Pomo D’Oro, Orquesta Barroca Sevilla and La Folia Barockorchester. Concert performances have taken him to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Barbican Centre and Wigmore Hall in London, the Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid and the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona as well as the Handel Festival in Halle, the Salzburg Festival, the Festival d’Aix-en- Provence, the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, the Dresdner Musikfestspielethe.

His extensive discography under major labels such as Virgin Classics/EMI, Decca, Harmonia Mundi Iberica and Aparté includes recordings of Handel's Operas, Faramando, Arminio, Ottone, the internationally-awarded recording of Alessandro receiving eleven awards as well as Tamerlano in which Xavier Sabata sings the leading role.