Rafał Siwek is a Polish opera singer (bass).
Education
Rafał Siwek is a graduate of Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw (Professor Jerzy Knetig's class). He mastered his voice under the supervision of Kaludi Kaludov and during the masterclasses taught by Alexandrina Milcheva and Ryszard Karczykowski.
He received numerous awards at vocal competitions, e.g. Moniuszko Vocal Competition in Warsaw (2001), International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna (2001), and Competizione dell'Opera in Dresden (2002).
Operatic career
Siwek made his opera debut in 2000 at Wrocław Opera (Ferrando in Verdi's Il trovatore). For a few years since 2001 he was a soloist of Warsaw Chamber Opera, where he sang the parts of Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Seneca (L'incoronazione di Poppea) and Il Commendatore (Don Giovanni).
In 2002, he made his debut at Polish National Opera as Gremin in Eugene Onegin, later appearing also in Die Zauberflöte (Sarastro), Lucia di Lammermoor (Raimondo), Nabucco (Zaccaria), Rigoletto (Sparafucile), Turandot (Timur), and The Haunted Manor (Zbigniew).
In 2003, he performed at Thėâtre du Chatelet in Paris in Szymanowski's King Roger. The same year he sang the part of Tibault d’Arc in The Maid of Orleans in Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels.
In 2005, at the invitation of Zubin Mehta, Siwek sang the bass part in Verdi's Requiem at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. His other performances that year include the appearance at The International Music Festival ‘Chopin and his Europe’ as well as the role of Hunding in a concert performance of Die Walküre at Polish National Opera alongside Placido Domingo as Siegmund.
His first Wagner role in a stage performance was King Marke (Tristan und Isolde) in Rome in 2006.
In 2007, Siwek began his cooperation with the conductor Lorin Maazel. This resulted in their concert performances of Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 in the Vatican, Milan, Brussels (European Parliament), Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome as well as Verdi’s Requiem in St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Milan, Cassablanca, Busseto, Assisi and Jerusalem. Maazel also conducted operas in which Siwek sang bass parts – Aida in Sao Paulo (Ramfis) and Luisa Miller in Valencia (Wurm).
In 2011, Siwek made his La Scala debut as Sarastro. He also performed at Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin (Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo) and Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich (Timus in Turandot and Ramfis in Aida). He sang the part of Ramfis also at Terme di Caracalla in Rome. At Polish National Opera, Siwek appeared as Zaccaria in Nabucco, Narbal in Les Troyens (cond. by Valery Gergiev) and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor.
In 2012, Siwek returned to Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich to sing Wurm in Luisa Miller and Fafner in Siegfried (cond. by Kent Nagano). He sang Galitsky at the season opening performance of Prince Igor at Staatsoper in Hamburg and Commandore at Deutsche Oper in Berlin during the Festival Castell de Peralada.
Siwek began season 2013, the year of Verdi, with Philip II in Don Carlo and Zaccaria in Nabucco at Polish National Opera. He returned to La Scala as Grand Inquisitor and to Bayerische Staatsoper as Sparafucile. He also made his debut at Opernhaus in Zurich as Il Commendatore (cond. by Fabio Luisi) and appeared at Bolshoi Theatre as Philip II in Don Carlo.
In 2014, he again sang at Bayerische Staatsoper (Gremin, cond. by Kirill Petrenko; Sparafucile, cond. by Marco Armiliato) and in Zurich (Ramfis in a new production of Aida). Together with Polish National Opera he made a guest performance in Tokio. He also sang Timur at Teatro Lirico in Calgari and Arena di Verona. He sang the title role in a concert performance of Verdi’s Attila at Polish National Opera. The next year witnessed his performances in Halka (Stolnik) at Polish National Theatre, in Der fliegende Holländer (Daland) at National Theatre in Tokio and in Nabucco (Zaccaria) at New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv.
In 2016, he added the title part of Boris Godunov to his repertoire, which he sang at Grant Theatre in Poznań. He also appeared as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor at Paris Opera.
In 2017, Siwek sang Heinrich in Lohengrin at Paris Opera, Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra in Concertgebouw, as well as Galitsky in Prince Igor and Tsar Ivan the Terrible in The Maid of Pskov at Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.