Opera Scotland

Rafal Siwek Suggest updates

Polish bass Rafal Siwek made his stage debut at Warsaw Chamber Opera as Sarastro in The Magic Flute, followed by a performance at the National Opera in Warsaw as Gremin in Eugene Onegin.
Siwek appears frequently in Italian theatres, where in recent seasons he has sung Colline in La bohème at the Arena di Verona, Count Rodolfo in La Sonnambula at Teatro Verdi in Trieste, King Mark in a new production of Tristan und Isolde at Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Oroveso in Norma at Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Colline in La bohème and Ferrando in Il Trovatore at Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Wurm in Luisa Miller at Teatro Regio in Parma and in Teatro Comunale in Modena, the King in Aida at Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia in the theatres of Bari, Palermo and Piacenza, and Timur in Turandot at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago.
Siwek has distinguished himself as an interpreter of Verdi’s roles including Filippo II in Don Carlo with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta and at Teatro Regio in Turin with Semyon Bychkov, Zaccaria in Nabucco in Teatro Carlo Felice in Geneva with Daniel Oren and at the Warsaw Opera, Wurm in Luisa Miller in Valencia under Lorin Maazel, Padre Guardiano in La forza del destino in Lodz Opera (Poland), Ramfis in Aida under the baton of Lorin Maazel in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and Silva in Ernani at Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania. Recently he sang his first performances of Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra at Teatro Regio in Parma.
Siwek’s career has included Thibaut d’Arc in Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans for his debut at Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Archbishop in Szymanowski’s King Roger at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Commendatore in Don Giovanni at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, at Opéra de Lille and at Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg. He made his debut at the Bolshoi Opera as Gremin in Eugene Onegin, a role he has also sung at the Warsaw Opera. Other engagements include Giorgio in I Puritani at Lodz Opera, Sparafucile in Rigoletto at the Savonlinna Festival, Timur in Turandot in Sofia and at Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, Ferrando in Il Trovatore at the Wroclaw Opera (Poland) and at Warna Opera (Bulgaria). Audiences in Warsaw have heard Siwek as Hunding in Die Walküre with Plácido Domingo, Seneca in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Zaccaria in Nabucco, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Timur in Turandot, Pimen in Boris Godunov and in several Polish operas.
Siwek is also an active concert artist. Under the baton of Lorin Maazel he has sung Verdi’s Requiem in Milan, Venice, Casablanca, Busseto, Assisi and Jerusalem, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in Rome, the Vatican, Milan, Brussels and Taormina. He has also worked with Zubin Mehta both at Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome singing Verdi’s Requiem and at Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Audiences in Verona have heard Siwek in Rossini’s Stabat Mater conducted by Alberto Zedda. He has also sung Janá?ek’s Glagolitic Mass at Prague Spring Festival, at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, in Bratislava, Brno and Linz. He appeared with the Warsaw Philharmonic in Verdi’s Requiem, Dvo?ák’s Stabat Mater, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Requiem under Frans Brüggen and Bach’s Mass in B Minor conducted by Helmuth Rilling.
His discography includes Verdi’s Requiem under Zubin Mehta for TDK, Edgar by Puccini for Deutsche Grammophon with Plácido Domingo, Luisa Miller for Decca, a second recording of Verdi’s Requiem conducted by Lorin Maazel for Medici Arts, Norma for Hardy Classic, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony under Lorin Maazel for Kultur as well as Il Trovatore for DUX and Ubu Rex by Penderecki for CD Accord.
Rafal Siwek has won awards in several international vocal competitions, including 2001 Moniuszko International Competition in Warsaw, 2001 Hans Gabor/Belvedere Competition in Vienna and 2002 Competizione dell’Opera in Dresden.