Mariusz Kwiecień

Mariusz Kwiecień (Polish: [ˈmar-juʂ ˈkvjɛ-tɕɛɲ], born 4 November 1972) is a Polish operatic 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 Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vienna State Opera,[1] Bilbao Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera,[2] Santa Fe Opera,[3] Warsaw Opera, Royal Opera House, London,[4] and Seattle Opera, where he won the company's 2006–07 Artist of the Year award for the role.[5]

Mariusz Kwiecień
Kwiecień in Don Giovanni at the Grand Theatre, Warsaw, 2002
Born (1972-11-04) 4 November 1972
Kraków, Poland
OccupationOpera singer
Years active1993–present
Websitewww.mariuszkwiecien.com

Career

Kwiecień studied at the Warsaw Academy of Music 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. He made his Warsaw Opera debut the next year as Stanisław in Moniuszko's rarely performed Verbum Nobile.[6] 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).[7]

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.[8]

In September 2020 he announced his retirement from the stage due to recurrent back problems, and became Artistic Director of the Wrocław Opera.

Recordings
  • A Night At The Opera (Kristine Jepson, Mariusz Kwiecień, Matthew Polenzani, Valerian Ruminski, Indra Thomas, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Rosekranz), 2008, Naxos 8557309
  • Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Atlanta Symphonie Orchestra and Chorus 2008, CD, Telarc
  • Chopin. Pieśni (Songs), 2009, CD and iTunes
  • Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin, Blu Ray and DVD 2009, a Bolshoi Theater production filmed at Paris Opera (Palais Garnier 9/2008, Bel Air Classiques
  • Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor, Blu Ray and DVD, Metropolitan Opera 2009, Deutsche Grammophon
  • Donizetti: Don Pasquale, Blu Ray and DVD, Metropolitan Opera 2011, Deutsche Grammophon
  • Slavic Heroes Arias from Russian, (Eugene Onegin, Iolanta, Mazeppa, Prince Igor, Aleko, Sadko), Polish (Halka, The Haunted Manor, Verbum nobile, King Roger) and Czech (The Cunning Peasant, The Devil's Wall) operas. Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lukasz Borowicz, 2012, HMF
  • Mozart: Don Giovanni, Blu Ray and DVD, Royal Opera House 2014, Opus Arte
  • Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin, Blu Ray and DVD, Metropolitan Opera 2014, Uni Dist Corp (Music)
  • Szymanowski: Król Roger, Royal Opera House 2015, Opus arte
  • Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Blu Ray and DVD, Metropolitan Opera 2017, Warner Classics/Parlophone
  • Donizetti: La Favorite, Blu Ray and DVD, Bayrische Staatoper 2017, Deutsche Grammophon/Verve Label Group

References
  1. Midgette, Anne, "Women Onstage and in the Pit at a Venerable Opera House", The New York Times, 25 January 2005
  2. Rowe, Georgia, "Kwiecień exudes Don Giovanni", The Contra Costa Times, 31 May 2007
  3. Smith, Craig, "Don Giovanni in excelsis at Santa Fe", The New Mexican, 5 July 2004
  4. Gutman, David "Don Giovanni", 9 September 2008
  5. Seattle Opera (accessed 24 September 2007)
  6. Naxos Records (accessed 24 September 2007)
  7. The Metropolitan Opera Archives Archived 2007-03-29 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 24 September 2007)
  8. Naxos Records (accessed 24 September] 2007)

Sources
  • Bargreen, Melinda,"New production sets quite a stage for stellar 'Giovanni'", Seattle Times, 15 January 2007 (accessed 24 September 2007)
  • Concurso Internacional de Canto Francisco Viñas (accessed 24 September 2007)
  • Dobnik, Verena, "Met's Cav and Pag shines from the orchestra up", Associated Press, 31 October 2004
  • Kozinn, Allan, "Hints of Youthful Charm and a Dash of the Sublime", New York Times, 5 February 2005
  • Meyers, Eric, "Mostly Mariusz", Opera News, January 2006, vol 70, no. 7 (available on subscription — accessed 24 September 2007)
  • Winn, Steven, "Kwiecien's Marcello stirs pulse of Opera's Bohème", San Francisco Chronicle, 8 January 2004
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