Tomasz Konieczny (; born 10 January 1972) is a Polish

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...

Life and work

He was born on 10 January 1972 in Łódź, Poland. He commenced his studies as an actor at the Film, TV and Theatre Academy in Łódź. Following this he studied voice at the

Chopin University of Music The Chopin University of Music ( pl, Uniwersytet Muzyczny Fryderyka Chopina, UMFC) is a musical conservatorium and academy located in central Warsaw, Poland. It is the oldest and largest music school in Poland, and one of the largest in Europe.

in Warsaw, finishing his studies under the guidance of Professor Christian Elßner at the

Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber The Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber (Carl Maria von Weber College of Music; also/formerly known as Dresden Conservatory or Dresden Royal Conservatory) is a university of music in Dresden, Germany. History The Hochschule opene ...

in Dresden. He made his debut in a film directed by Oscar-winning director Andrzej Wajda ''The Ring with the Eagle'' following this he worked as an actor/director in many TV, film and theatre productions in Poland. He made his debut as a singer in 1997 in the role of Figaro ('' Marriage of Figaro'') in Poznań, Poland. Two years later he made his debut at the Oper Leipzig as Kecal in the '' Bartered Bride'' ( Smetana) where he remained for the 1999–2000 season. In 2000 he was engaged as a Bass at the

Theater Lübeck The Theater Lübeck (formerly ''Stage of the Hansestadt Lübeck'', colloquially ''Stadttheater'') is one of the largest theaters in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is managed by ''Theater Lübeck GmbH'', a state-owned company of the H ...

where he sang Procida ('' I vespri siciliani''), Pandolph (''

Cendrillon ''Cendrillon'' (''Cinderella'') is an opera—described as a "fairy tale"—in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Caïn based on Perrault's 1698 version of the Cinderella fairy tale. It had its premiere performance on 24 ...

''), Orest (''

Elektra Electra was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology. Electra or Elektra may also refer to: Greek mythology *Electra (Pleiad), one of the Pleiades * Electra, one of the Danaids, daughter of Danaus and Polyxo * Electra (Oc ...

'') and Ramfis ('' Aida''). Since 2002/2003 he has been a member of the ensemble of Nationaltheater Mannheim where he received the Arnold Petersen Prize for talented young singers, his roles in Mannheim have included Orest, Pimen ('' Boris Godunow''), King Mark ('' Tristan & Isolde''), Sarastro ('' The Magic Flute''), Amfortas ('' Parsifal''), Wotan ('' Das Rheingold''), Wotan ('' Walküre''), Pizzaro ('' Fidelio''), Grand Inquisitor ('' Don Carlos''), Melitone (''

La forza del destino ' (; ''The Power of Fate'', often translated ''The Force of Destiny'') is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, ' (1835), by Ángel de Saavedra, 3rd Duke of Rivas, wi ...

'') and Jochanaan (''

Salome Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...

''). In February 2005 he made his debut at the

Staatstheater Stuttgart The Staatstheater Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Theatre) is a theatre with three locations, Oper Stuttgart (Opera Stuttgart), Stuttgarter Ballett (Stuttgart Ballet), and Schauspiel Stuttgart (Stuttgart Drama Theatre), in Stuttgart, Germany. The s ...

as Sarastro and in June 2005 as King Vladislav in Smetana's ''Dalibor'' at the Staatstheater Saarbrücken. In September he made his debut at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in April 2006 as Osmin and Melitone (''

'') and in May 2006 as Wotan (''Das Rheingold''). In the 2006/7 season he became a member of the Ensemble of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf/Duisburg. He sang here as Bottom (''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'') in 2006, in 2007 Kurwenal (''Tristan und Isolde''), Golaud ('' Pelléas et Mélisande''), and Turco ('' Il Turco in Italia''), and in 2008 Amfortas (''Parsifal''). In June 2006 he sang at Budapester Wagner Tage as Amfortas (''Parsifal''). The conductor was

Ádám Fischer Ádám Fischer (born 9 September 1949 in Budapest) is a Hungarian conductor. He is the general music director of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, chief conductor of the Danish Chamber Orchestra, and chief conductor of the Düsseldorfer Sym ...

. In August 2006 he made his debut in ''

Matthäuspassion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

'', Arias of Bach in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The conductor was Kent Nagano. In January 2008 he made his debut at the Semperoper Dresden as Alberich. The conductor was Peter Schneider. In April 2008 he made also his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper as Alberich (new production of '' Ring des Nibelungen''). The conductor was Franz Welser-Möst. In 2017 he made his debut at the Canadian Opera Company as Mandryka in R. Strauss' "

Arabella ''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. Performance history It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the Dr ...

". The conductor was

Patrick Lange Patrick Lange (; 25 August 1986) is a professional duathlete and triathlete from Germany. He is the 2017 Ironman World Champion and the 2018 Ironman World Champion both times breaking the course record. Lange is also the 2010-2013 German champ ...

Honours and awards

Tomasz Konieczny is the recipient of many awards, including the Polish Arts and Culture Prize, the Alfred Toepfer Foundation Prize, the Arnold Petersen Award, the Stadtsparkasse Prize in Dresden, and Second Prize in the International Dvořák competition in Karlsbad. In 2019, he received the Austrian Kammersänger.

References

External links

Tomasz Konieczny
{{DEFAULTSORT:Konieczny, Tomasz 1972 births Living people Polish opera singers 21st-century Polish male opera singers Operatic basses Operatic bass-baritones People from Łódź Chopin University of Music alumni Österreichischer Kammersänger

Life and work

Honours and awards

See also

References

External links