Rúni Brattaberg is a bass opera singer from the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

, who works in operas around the world. He has been building his repertoire with

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

(Gurnemanz, Hagen, Hunding, Fafner, Pogner, Heinrich) and other leading bass roles such as Osmin/The Abduction from the Seraglio, Timur/Turandot, Sparafucile/Rigoletto, Sarastro/The Magic Flute, Kaspar/Der Freischütz, the Doctor/Wozzeck, Rocco/Fidelio, and Basilio/The Barber of Seville in the ensembles of the Mainz, Ulm, Detmold, Bern, and Mannheim opera companies. In January 2017 he received the

Faroese Cultural Prize Mentanarvirðisløn Landsins (Faroese Cultural Prize) has been awarded by the Faroese government to Faroese writers, musicians, artists etc. since 1998. In 2004 no award was given. From 1998 to 2000 only one award was given, but in 2001 they esta ...

Background

Rúni was born and raised in the village of

Vágur Vágur meaning ''Bay'' ( da, Våg) is a town on the island of Suðuroy, part of the Faroe Islands It is situated on the east coast of the island on the Vágsfjørður fjord, and was founded in the fourteenth century. Expansion has meant that the ...

on Suðuroy, the southernmost island of the

. He is the son of Árni and Karin Brattaberg, founders of the Faroese wool yarn and knitwear company "Sirri", based in Vágur. Rúni first graduated as a documentary photographer in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, and worked as a documentary photographer for eight years, before he trained to become a singer. He studied at the Sibelius-Akatemia in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

from 1997 to 1999 and at ''Internationales Opernstudio IOS'' in Zurich from 1999 to 2000. Brattaberg is married to German opera singer Susanne Brattaberg-Jacoby.

Career

In 2001 Brattaberg received his first engagement as a soloist at the Staatstheater Mainz, 2005/2006 he was a member of the ensemble at the Bern Theatre. Rúni Brattaberg was engaged at the Theater Ulm from the season 2006/2007 to 2007/2008, where he debuted as a doctor in

Wozzeck ''Wozzeck'' () is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama '' Woyzeck'', which the German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at ...

under the baton of

James Allen Gähres James Allen Gähres (born August 5, 1943 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) is an American conductor, based in Germany. Biography Gähres studied music, conducting, composition and piano at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, where he ...

, in a production directed by Matthias Kaiser. In Ulm he was still to be heard and seen in the following roles: as Seneca in

L'incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' ( SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni ...

, as Kaspar in

Der Freischütz ' ( J. 277, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind, based on a story by Johann August Apel and Friedrich Laun from their 18 ...

, as Gremin in

Eugene Onegin ''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' (Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Евгений Оне́гин, ромáн в стихáх, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɐˈnʲeɡʲɪn, r=Yevgeniy Onegin, roman v stikhakh) is ...

, and as Banquo in Macbeth. From 2009 to 2011 he was engaged at the National Theater

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

performing Gurnemanz, Hagen, Hunding, Fafner, Veit Pogner, König Heinrich, Basilio, Timur, Sparafucile, Sarastro, Baron Ochs, and Osmin. He sang as a guest at the

Dutch National Opera The Dutch National Opera (DNO; formerly De Nederlandse Opera, now De Nationale Opera in Dutch) is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Dutch National Opera & Ballet housed in the Stopera building, a m ...

in Amsterdam, in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

, at Theater Bonn, at Aalto Theater in Essen, and at the

Opera Bastille Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

in Paris. In 2004, the British composer

Gavin Bryars Richard Gavin Bryars (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer and double bassist. He has worked in jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, avant-garde, and experimental music. Early life and career Born on 16 January 1943 in ...

wrote two pieces for choir and bass soloist especially for Rúni Brattaberg which were first performed in London in November of that year. The collaboration between the two artists continued, and along with Faroese singer

Eivør Pálsdóttir Eivor, Eivør or Øyvor is a female given name in the Nordic countries. In Sweden, 4,922 people bear the name. The average age is 78. The name perhaps originated from either the Proto-Norse word ''auja'', which is thought to mean "good luck", o ...

, a performance and recording of two works, conducted by Bryars, was realized in the Faroe Islands in 2011. Since the 2008/2009 season, Rúni Brattaberg has covered the roles of Hagen and Baron Ochs at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

in New York. In May 2011, he replaced the ill Kurt Rydl as Baron Ochs in Amsterdam, in a performance conducted by

Sir Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principal ...

. In March 2013 he starred at the Metropolitan Opera HD Live transmission worldwide, as "Titurel" in Richard Wagner's "Parsifal", under the baton of

Daniele Gatti Daniele Gatti (born 6 November 1961) is an Italian conductor. He is currently chief conductor of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, artistic advisor of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and music director of the Orchestra Mozart. Biography Gatti was born ...

. In the same year, Rúni Brattaberg portrayed Baron Ochs in his Cincinnati Opera debut. He also debuted in 2013 at the

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...

singing Titurel in "Parsifal". From March to May 2014, he sang the role of Baron Ochs in "Der Rosenkavalier" at

Malmö Opera Malmö Opera ( Swedish: ''Malmö opera'') is an opera house in Malmö, Sweden. An opera company of the same name presents seasons of opera in this house. Built 1933-1944 by architect Sigurd Lewerentz and, until 1992, known as the Malmö City Th ...

, and in July of the same year he performed in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand, appearing as König Marke in Wagner's "

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was comp ...

". Since 2014, he has been engaged at the

Leipzig Opera The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany. History Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Sing ...

, singing various roles in operas such as Sarastro in Mozart's "

Die Zauberflöte ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that includ ...

" or Sparafucile in Verdi's "

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had co ...

", particularly specializing in Wagner roles like Fafner in "

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

", Hagen in "

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), WWV 86D, is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled (''The Ring of the Nibelung'', or ''The Ring Cycle'' or ''The Ring'' for short). It received its premiere at the on 17 August 1876, as ...

", Hunding in "

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), WWV 86B, is the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on ...

", and Gurnemanz in "Parsifal".

Recordings

*2000 — Mikko Heiniö: ''The Knight and the Dragon'', by Curt Appelgren, Rúni Brattaberg, Mikko Heiniö, and Ulf Söderblom *2001 — ''Brotið'' song by Rúni Brattaberg, composed by

Regin Dahl Regin Dahl (5 November 1918 – 29 March 2007) was a Faroese author and composer. Biography Dahl came from a literary family; his father being the translator and provost Jákup Dahl. His own poetry has been described as more modernistic than t ...

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

and

Sunleif Rasmussen Sunleif Rasmussen (born March 19, 1961 in Sandur in the Faroe Islands) is the foremost Faroese composer of classical music. Biography Rasmussen studied in Norway, then returned to Tórshavn in the Faroes as a music teacher and jazz pianist. Fro ...

Honour

* 2016 - Mentanarvirðisløn Landsins (Faroese Cultural Prize)

Background

Career

Recordings

Honour

References

External links