Rúni Brattaberg is a

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

opera singer from the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

, 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, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

(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 Faroe Islands, Faroese Faroese literature, writers, Music of the Faroe Islands, musicians, artists etc. since 1998. In 2004 no award was given. From ...

Background

Rúni was born and raised in the village of

Vágur Vágur, meaning ''bay'' (), is a town and municipality 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 mea ...

Suðuroy Suðuroy (pronounced: �suːwʊrɔior �suːri ‘South Island’, ) is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. The island covers 163.7 square kilometres (63.2 sq mi). In 2018 the population was 4,601. Suðuroy region ( sýsla) comprise ...

, 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, and worked as a documentary photographer for eight years, before he trained to become a singer. He studied at the Sibelius-Akatemia in Helsinki 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. Composed between 1914 and 1922, it premiered in 1925. It is based on the drama '' Woyzeck'', which German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at his death. Berg attende ...

under the baton of James Allen Gähres, 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'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Buse ...

, as Kaspar in

Der Freischütz ' (Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns, J. 277, Opus number, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Johann Fried ...

, as Gremin in

Eugene Onegin ''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' (, Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: Евгеній Онѣгинъ, романъ въ стихахъ, ) is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin. ''Onegin'' is considered a classic of ...

, and as Banquo in

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

. From 2009 to 2011 he was engaged at the National Theater

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

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, at Theater Bonn, at Aalto Theater in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

, and at the Opera Bastille 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, Musical historicism, historicism, Avant-garde music, avant-garde, and experimental music. Early lif ...

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

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. In March 2013 he starred at the Metropolitan Opera HD Live transmission worldwide, as "Titurel" in

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

's "Parsifal", under the baton of Daniele Gatti. 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 an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox (Chicago opera), Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, w ...

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

Malmö Opera 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 Theatre accommodating sever ...

, and in July of the same year he performed in Auckland, New Zealand, appearing as König Marke in Wagner's "

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...

". Since 2014, he has been engaged at the

Leipzig Opera The Leipzig Opera () 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 Singspiel perfo ...

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

Die Zauberflöte ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

" 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 c ...

", 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''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). I ...

", Hunding in "

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...

", 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 ...

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

and

Sunleif Rasmussen Sunleif Rasmussen (born March 19, 1961) is one of the foremost Faroese composers of classical music. Biography Rasmussen was born in Sandur in the Faroe Islands. He studied in Norway, then returned to Tórshavn in the Faroes as a music teacher ...

Honour

* 2016 –

Mentanarvirðisløn Landsins 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 estab ...

(Faroese Cultural Prize)

Background

Career

Recordings

Honour

References

External links