Mariusz Kwiecien
Encyclopedia
Mariusz Kwiecień is an opera
tic baritone
who has sung leading roles in the major opera houses of Europe and North America. He has received particular distinction in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni
which he has sung at the Vienna State Opera
, Bilbao Opera, Houston Grand Opera
, San Francisco Opera
, Santa Fe Opera
, Warsaw Opera, Royal Opera House
, London, and Seattle Opera
where he won the company's 2006-2007 Artist of the Year award for his performance in the role.
Kwiecień studied at the Warsaw
Academy and began his professional career as Aeneas in Purcell
's Dido and Aeneas
at the Kraków Opera in 1993. In 1995 he sang the title role in The Marriage of Figaro
in Luxembourg
and Poznań
, and made his Warsaw Opera debut the following year as Stanisław in Moniuszko's rarely performed Verbum Nobile. Debuts in major European and American opera houses soon followed.
A former student of the Metropolitan Opera
's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he made his Met debut in 1999 as Kuligin in Janáček
's Káťa Kabanová
. By 2003 he was singing leading baritone roles there including Marcello in La bohème
(2003), Silvio in Pagliacci
(2004), Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro (2005), Guglielmo in Così fan tutte
(2005), Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale
(2006), and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor
(2007).
Mariusz Kwiecień has won awards in several international voice competitions, including the Vienna State Opera and Hamburg State Opera Prizes in the 1996 Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition, and the Mozart Interpretation Prize and Audience Choice Award in the 1998 Francisco Viñas Competition in Barcelona. He was also selected to represent Poland in the 1999 Cardiff Singer of the World
competition.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
who has sung leading roles in the major opera houses of Europe and North America. He has received particular distinction in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
which he has sung at the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
, Bilbao Opera, Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
, San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
, Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
, Warsaw Opera, Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, London, and Seattle Opera
Seattle Opera
The Seattle Opera is an opera company located in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as the company's first general director through 1983, Seattle Opera's season runs from August to late May, with five or six operas offered and with eight to ten performances each, often...
where he won the company's 2006-2007 Artist of the Year award for his performance in the role.
Kwiecień studied at the Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
Academy and began his professional career as Aeneas in Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
's Dido and Aeneas
Dido and Aeneas
Dido and Aeneas is an opera in a prologue and three acts by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell to a libretto by Nahum Tate. The first known performance was at Josias Priest's girls' school in London no later than the summer of 1688. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid...
at the Kraków Opera in 1993. In 1995 he sang the title role in The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
and Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, and made his Warsaw Opera debut the following year as Stanisław in Moniuszko's rarely performed Verbum Nobile. Debuts in major European and American opera houses soon followed.
A former student of the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he made his Met debut in 1999 as Kuligin in Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's Káťa Kabanová
Káta Kabanová
Káťa Kabanová is an opera in three acts, with music by Leoš Janáček to a libretto by Vincenc Červinka, based on The Storm, a play by Alexander Ostrovsky. The opera was also largely inspired by Janáček's love for Kamila Stösslová...
. By 2003 he was singing leading baritone roles there including Marcello in La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
(2003), Silvio in Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
(2004), Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro (2005), Guglielmo in Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
(2005), Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio ....
(2006), and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
(2007).
Mariusz Kwiecień has won awards in several international voice competitions, including the Vienna State Opera and Hamburg State Opera Prizes in the 1996 Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition, and the Mozart Interpretation Prize and Audience Choice Award in the 1998 Francisco Viñas Competition in Barcelona. He was also selected to represent Poland in the 1999 Cardiff Singer of the World
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition is a competition for opera and art singers held every two years....
competition.
Recording
A Night At The Opera (Kristine Jepson, Mariusz Kwiecień, Matthew Polenzani, Valerian Ruminski, Indra Thomas, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Rosekranz) Naxos 8557309External links
- Mariusz Kwiecien official website (accessed 24 September 2007)
- Biography on Columbia Artists Management (Biography, schedule of engagements, high resolution photos - accessed 24 September 2007)