Born: 1975, Cracow, Poland
Summary. Some operas' announcements: The Metropolitan Opera presents its new production premiere of Donizetti's delightful comic opera, Don Pasquale. Anna Netrebko and Juan Diego Florez are the young lovers with Mariusz Kwiecien, young baritone on the rise, as Dr. Malatesta;The New York Times called him "a star in the making, a charismatic actor, a fearless and exciting singer.";SanFrancisco Opera- DON GIOVANNI . Mozart Baritone Mariusz Kwiecien, who made a stunning San Francisco Opera debut as Marcello in 2004.s La Boheme, returns in the title role of Mozart's famed opera about the legendary Spanish lover, led by Donald Runnicles.
Early days. Studied at Warsaw's Musical Academy in Wlodzimierz Zalewski's class.
He debuted in 1993 in Cracow's Opera as Aeneas in Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas" and then in Poznan's Great Theater and in Luxembourg as Figaro in Mozart's the "Marriage of Figaro." Kwiecien is an alumnus of The Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
Professional career. Kwiecien debuted in the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in 1999 as Kuligin in Leos Janacek's "Katia Kabanova." This started his international career thanks, in part, to the support of Metropolitan Opera's director, James Levine. It is worth mentioning that singers contracted by Met are automatically considered as belonging to an elitist group of soloists. He was Enrico in Donizetti's "Lucia of Lammermoor" in Teatro Municipal, Sao Paulo, Brazil and Marcello in Puccini's "La Boheme" in Michigan, USA, in Covent Garden, London, England and in Vlaamse Opera, Antwerp and Ghent, Belgium. He debuted in Japan as Guglielmo in Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" Seijio Ozawa conducting. He was also Guglielmo in Grand Theatre de Geneve in Geneva, Switzerland ,in National Opera in Warsaw, Poland and in Wiener Staatsoper in Vienna, Austria. He was Haly in Rossini's "Italian Girl in Algiers"in Metropolitan Opera where he also participated in Placido Domingo's jubilee concert. He sang the part of Count Almaviva in "Marriage of Figaro" at the Glyndebourne Festival in Glyndebourne, United Kingdom. He debuted as Ottokar in von Weber's "Freischuetz"in La Scala, Milan, Italy. In Staatsoper of Hamburg, Germany he participated in the first performance of Zemlinsky's "Der Koenig Kandaules". In Opera de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France he was Dunois in Tchaikovsky's "Maiden of Orleans". He debuted as Silvio in Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" in Lyric Opera of Chicago and in the Met. He was Robinson in Cimarosa's "The Secret Marriage" in Wiener Staatsoper. He sang the part of Belcore in Donizetti's "Elisir d'amore" in the Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is going to sing the same part in Paris' Bastille Opera. Finally, he was Onegin in Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" in Graz, Austria and in Warsaw's National Opera. Mariusz Kwiecien made his Seattle Opera debut singing Dr. Malatesta in the 2003 production of Donizetti's "Don Pasquale." He sings the same part recently in the Met. He returns to Met in 2007 as Don Giovanni the role he played recently in San Francisco Opera in San Francisco. He will also sing the part of Ford in Verdi's "Falstaff" in Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy. Finally he'll take part in a concert performance of Bach's Cantata No. 82 with members of the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, NYC.
In 2004 he was awarded Hiolski Prize for his title part in Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" in Warsaw's National Opera. Kwiecien works regularly with the conductors: James Levine, Zubin Mehta and. Seiji Ozawa.
Sources:
Muzyka (in Polish)
Polish Culture
San Francisco Opera announcement
Wiener Staatsoper (in German)
Interview (in Polish)
Warsaw's National Opera (in Polish)
The Metropolitan Opera
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