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Tomasz Konieczny

Tomasz Konieczny

With his sensational success as Alberich at the Vienna State Opera and now also as Jochanaan, Wotan/Wanderer and Telramund Tomasz Konieczny has established himself at the forefront of outstanding dramatic Bass-Baritones of his generation. Besides Wotan in the Ring, Vienna has invited him to sing Mandryka, Jack Rance, Amfortas, Holländer, Scarpia, Cardillac, Pizarro, Kurwenal.

Among his future plans he has guest contracts to sing with the, Bayerischer Staatsoper München, Opéra national de Paris, Canadian Opera Company, Spring Festival in Tokyo-Tokyo Opera Nomori, Nationaltheater Warsaw, Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Corporación de las Artes Musicales Puerto Rico.

Tomasz Konieczny was born in 1972 in Lodz/Poland, where he first studied acting at the Film, TV and Theatre Academy. He made his debut in a film directed by Oscar prize winning director Andrzej Wajda The Ring with the Eagle, following which he worked as actor / director in many TV Film and Theatre productions in Poland.

It was at that time that he began his vocal studies at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy in Warsaw, after which he went to Dresden where he joined the class of Prof. Christian Elßner at the Hochschule für Musik. In 1998 he won the 33rd Dvorak International Vocal Competition in Carlsbad.

In 1997 he made his debut singing Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro at the Poznan Opera in Poland, followed by engagements in places such as Leipzig, St. Gallen, Chemnitz and Mannheim. In 2002 he joined the ensemble of the National Theater Mannheim where he sang many roles included Orest, Pimen, King Marke, Amfortas, Wotan, Pizarro, Jochanaan and the Gran’ Inquisitorie in Don Carlo. In 2004 Mannheim bestowed upon him the Arnold-Petersen-Award, a special prize for outstanding young talents.

2006 – 2014 Tomasz Konieczny was a member of the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf/Duisburg where he could add to his repertoire some important leading roles like Wotan, Osmin, Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande, Kurwenal, Holländer, Barak, Balstrode in peter Grimes, Sleim in Il Turco in Italia, Falstaff and Escamillo.

He has been a regular guest at the Opera Festial “Wagner in Budapest”, Where he sang under the baton of Adam Fischer Amfortas in 2006, WOTAN in Die Walküre in 2007 as well as in 2009, WANDERER in 2010 and Kurwenal in 2010 and 2011. In 2008 he made his debut at the Semperoper Dresden where he sang a highly-acclaimed Alberich in both Das Rheingold and Siegfried under Peter Schneider. In the same year he appeared for the first time at the Teatro Real Madrid where he sang Dr Kolenaty in Janacek’s Case Macropoulos.

In 2010 he made his debut with a sensational success as Alberich at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

In 2011 he sang AMFORTAS at National Theater of Prague (Narodni Divadlo). It was a great personal sucsess of Konieczny. In 2011 he made also his debut as BITEROLF in Tannhäuser at Opéra National de Paris in 2012 as PIZARRO with NSO Washington and at the Bayerische Staatsoper München. The big sucsess was his debut at the Salzburger Festspiele (summer 2012) as STOLZIUS in Soldaten of Zimmermann and at the end the part of JUPITER in Die Liebe der Danae of Strauss (summer 2016). The very big succes was his debut as WOZZECK in Wozzeck of Berg at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Nov. 2015.

2013 he sings two important CD – Productions of Ring des Nibelungen: as Wotan – the conductor is Marek Janowski (Pentatone Classics) and as Alberich – the conductor was Christian Thielemann (Deutsche Grammophon). 2014 he made his very saccesfully debut at the Carnegie Hall as JOCHANAAN in Salome and goes back as COMMENDATORE to Salzburger Festspiele. DISCOGRAFY of Tomasz Konieczny

At the Vienna State Opera he still sings since 2009: JACK RANCE, ALBERICH and WOTAN, AMFORTAS, HOLLÄNDER, SCARPIA, MANDRYKA, JOCHANAAN, TELRAMUND. He performs for the Viennese public with consistent and requited love.

Tomasz Konieczny is also in great demand for concerts where the colour of his voice and his stage presence make for a special combination. Among his upcoming engagements are concerts with the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic in Prague, and with the BBC London.

His repertoire includes Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion, the Weihnachtsoratorium, Handel’s Messiah and Mendessohn´s Elijah, Mozart’s, Verdi’s and Dvorak’s Requiem, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Penderecki’s Kosmogonia, Lukaspassion, Seven Gates of Jerusalem and the Messa da Requiem by Maciejewski, songs of Rachmaninoff, Strauss, Twardowski, Beethoven, Penderecki.

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