Polish bass Rafal Siwek made his stage debut at the National Opera in Warsaw as Gremin in Eugene Onegin in 2002. Mr.Siwek appears frequently in Italian theatres, where he has sung Colline in La bohème at the Arena di Verona and at Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Count Rodolfo in La Sonnambula at Teatro Verdi in Trieste, King Mark in a new production of Tristan und Isolde at Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Oroveso in Norma at Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia in the theatres of Bari, Palermo and Piacenza, Timur in Turandot at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago.
Rafal Siwek has distinguished himself as an interpreter of Verdi roles including Filippo II in Don Carlo with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta and at Teatro Regio in Turin with Semyon Bychkov, Ramfis in Aida under the baton of Lorin Maazel in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Zaccaria in Nabucco at the Warsaw Opera, Wurm in Luisa Miller in Valencia under Lorin Maazel, at Teatro Regio in Parma and in Teatro Comunale in Modena, Padre Guardiano in La forza del destino in Lodz Opera (Poland). He sang his first performances of Silva in Ernani at Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania.
Rafal Siwek’s career has included Thibaut d’Arc in Tchaikovski’s The Maid of Orleans for his debut at Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Archbishop in Szymanowski’s King Roger at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Commendatore in Don Giovanni at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, at Lille Opera and at Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg. He made his debut at the Bolshoi Opera as Gremin in Eugene Onegin. Other engagements include Giorgio in I Puritani at Lodz Opera, Sparafucile in Rigoletto at the Savonlinna Festival, Timur in Turandot and at Bunka Kaikan in Tokio. Audiences in Warsaw have heard Mr. Siwek as Hunding in Die Walküre with Plcido Domingo, Seneca in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Zaccaria in Nabucco, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Timur in Turandot and in several Polish operas.
Among his engagements in 2010/11 — 2011/12:
Berlin State Opera: Don Carlo (Inquisitiore), Opera Rome: Aida (Ramfis), Warsaw Opera: Turandot, Incoronazione di Poppea, Lucia di Lammermoor, Nabucco, Munich State Opera: Aida (Ramfis) and Turandot, Luisa Miller as well as the new production of Siegfried (role debut of Fafner) as well as several concerts.
Season 2012/13: new production of Fürst Igor at Hamburg State Opera, Don Carlo and Aida at Berlin State Opera, new production of Don Carlo in Warsaw (Filippo), new production of Don Giovanni at Zurich Opera House, Flying Dutchman at Munich State Opera.
In 2013 he took part in the production of Don Carlo at the Bolshoi Theatre, singing the part of Philip II (conductor Robert Treviño, director Adrian Noble).
Mr.Siwek is also active concert artist. Under the baton of Lorin Maazel he has sung Verdi’s Requiem in Milan, Venice, Casablanca, Busseto as well as Jerusalem and Beethoven’s IX Symphony in Rome, Milan, Brussels and Taormina. He has also worked with Zubin Mehta both at Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome singing Verdi’s Requiem and at Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in a performance of Beethoven’s IX Symphony. Audiences of Verona have heard Mr.Siwek in Rossini’s Stabat Mater conducted by Alberto Zedda. Janek’s Glagolitic Mass he sang at Prague Spring Festival, at Beethoven Festival in Bonn, in Bratislava, Brno and Linz. At the Warsaw Philharmonic he appeared in Verdi’s Requiem, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Requiem under Frans Brüggen and Bach’s Mass in B Minor conducted by Helmuth Rilling. In Riga he performed Penderecki’s Credo under the baton of the composer.
Rafal Siwek has won awards in several international vocal competitions, including 2001 Moniuszko International Competition in Warsaw, 2001 Hans Gabor/Belvedere Competition in Vienna and 2002 Competizione dell’Opera in Dresden.