Tomasz Konieczny

With his sensational success as ALBERICH at the Vienna State Opera 2008/09 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. Among his future plans he has guest contracts to sing with the, Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Bayreuther Festspiele, Teatro Real, Opernhaus Zürich.

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’ INQUISITORE 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 Pelleas et Mélisande, KURWENAL, HOLLÄNDER, BARAK, BALSTRODE in Peter Grimes SELIM in Il Turco in Italia FALSTAFF and ESCAMILLIO.

He has been a regular guest at the Opera Festival “Budapest Wagner Days”, Where he sang under the baton of Adam Fischer AMFORTAS in 2006, WOTAN in Die Walküre in 2007 as well as in 2009, KURWENAL in 2010 and 2011, WANDERER in 2010 and 2016. 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 the National Theater of Prague (Narodni Divadlo). In 2011 he made also his debut as BITEROLF in Tannhäuser at Opéra National de Paris and came back 2017 as TELRAMUND in Lohengrin (Kaufmann/Pappe). 2012 debut as PIZARRO with NSO Washington and with the same part at the Bayerische Staatsoper München. The big success was his debut at the Salzburger Festspiele (summer 2012) as STOLZIUS in Soldaten of Zimmermann and especially the role of JUPITER in Die Liebe der Danae of Strauss (summer 2016). 2014 he made his very successfully debut at the Carnegie Hall as JOCHANAAN in Salome. Very spectacular was his debut as WOZZECK in Wozzeck of Berg at the Lyric Opera of Chicago Nov. 2015. 2017 he made his debut at the Teatro alla Scala as COMMENDATORE and the same year at the Canadian Opera Company as MANDRYKA in Arabella. January 2018 he made his debut at the Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse as WOTAN in Die Walküre and im March 2018 at the New National Theatre Tokyo as DEVIL in Hoffmann Tales. Sommer 2018 he makes 3 debuts as TELRAMUND in Lohengrin at Bayreuther Festspiele (Opening Evening 2018), as FATHER in Hänsel and Gretel at Edinburgh International Festival 2018 and the recital with Winterreise of Schubert to Stanislaw Baranczak´s poetry at Festival Chopin and his Europe 2018 as the release of the new cd album. March 2019 Konieczny made the stunning debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York as Alberich in Rheingold. Anthony Tommasini (The New York Times) wrote: “„The standout member of the cast was Tomasz Konieczny, a powerhouse bass, in a breakthrough Met debut as Alberich. I tend to prefer portrayals that bring out Alberich’s suffering and bitterness; with a big, penetrating voice that can slice through the orchestra, Mr. Konieczny made Alberich sneering and dangerous.”

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). 2015 – The next important CD of Das Rheingold as ALBERICH with Sir Simon Rattle. DISCOGRAFY of Tomasz Konieczny

At the Vienna State Opera he still sings since 2009. He performs for the Viennese public with consistent and requited love.

2017 he receives Austrian honorary citizenship.

January 2019 he became at the Vienna State Opera Österreichischer Kammersänger.

Tomasz Konieczny is also in great demand for concerts where the color 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, Schubert, Mussorgsky, Mahler.

For more information visit: tomasz-konieczny.com/en/

Photo: Karpati&Zarewicz