Rafał Bartmiński
Rafał Bartmiński was born in Lublin. A graduate of the vocal and acting dept. at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice in the class of Professor Eugeniusz Sąsiadek. Bartmiński took part in master classes led by Ryszard Karczykowski, Helena Łazarska and Christian Elsner.
In 2001 he won 3rd prize at the 11th Ada Sari Competition in Nowy Sącz. In 2007 he won 2nd prize and a number of other awards at the 6th Stanisław Moniuszko International Vocal Competition in Warsaw.
Bartmiński sang in concert since his first year of study. His operatic debut was Lensky in Eugene Onegin at the Teatr Wielki (Polish National Opera) in 2002. While still in school he joined the Warsaw Chamber Opera and he has regularly appeared with Polish National Opera in Warsaw since 2003. On tour with PNO he has performed at London’s Sadlers Wells Theatre, at Vilnius Opera, at the Peralada Festival in Spain and in a tour of Japan. His main roles in the National Opera in Warsaw include Tamino in The Magic Flute, Ismaele in Verdi’s Nabucco, Drum-major in Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, Boris in Janáček’s Katia Kabanova, Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, Stefan in The Haunted Manor and Jontek in Moniuszko’s Halka.
In 2003 and 2005 he toured Austria, Germany and Switzerland singing Tamino in The Magic Flute, a role he also sang at the Teatr Wielki in Poznań in 2005.
Since 2006 Rafał has also been a regular performer with the Wrocław Opera. In 2009 he made his Russian debut at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow as the Drum-Major in Berg’s Wozzeck (a new production by by Dmitri Tcherniakov) and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Cracow Opera.
He has performed Szymanowski’s 3rd Symphony “Song of the Night” with the National Philharmonic in Warsaw under the direction of Antoni Wit (recorded on DVD), with the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munich and Cologne under the direction of Mariss Jansons in 2008 roku (recorded on CD), and with the Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE under the direction of Hannu Lintu in Madrid in 2011. Also in 2011, Bartmiński made his debut in Lepzig with the MDR-Sinfonieorchester singing Penderecki’s Polish Requiem under the direction of the composer and in Paris, in Théâtre du Châtelet, singing Szymanowski’s Harnasie.
Also in 2011, he performed for the first time at the Wexford Opera Festival in Ireleand, playing Wacław in Statkowski’s Maria and Jontek in a new prduction of Moniuszko’s Halka under the direction of Marc Minkowski in The National Opera in Warsaw. In 2012 and 2013 he sang the role of Fisherman in Stravinsky’s Nightingale in the National Opera in Warsaw, Stefan in the Haunted Manor in the opera in Białystok and made his debut in the opera in Riga in Penderecki’s Polish Requiem.
He works regularly with the Polish Radio Orchestra, singing Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff under the direction of Łukasz Borowicz, Franek in Monisuzko’s Flis and the title role in Dobrzyński’s Monbar.
Rafał Bartmiński also works regularly with the best Polish orchestras, including the National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice (NOSPR), the Polish Radio Orchestra, Orchestra of the Beethoven Academy, Sinfonia Varsovia and the Cracow Philharmonic. He sings under such renowned conductors as Łukasz Borowicz, Gabriel Chmura, Teodor Currentzis, Miguel Gomez-Martinez, Tomas Hanus, Mariss Jansons, Jacek Kaspszyk, Hannu Lintu, Wojciech Michniewski, Ewa Michnik, Marc Minkowski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Andrzej Straszyński, Antoni Wit, Tadeusz Wojciechowski and Alberto Zedda and has worked with directors including David Alden, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Mariusz Treliński, Krzysztof Warlikowski and Michał Znaniecki.
His most important projects in the 2013/14 season include Ismael, the Fisherman in the Nightingale, Pinkerton and Stefan in the National Opera in Warsaw; Alfredo (debut) in the opera in Białystokand in Poznań; the Shepherd in King Roger in Wuppertal, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the International Sacred Music Festival in Riga and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Beethovena Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice.
Rafal performed “Credo” by Krzysztof Penderecki under the baton of Valery Giergiev during the Jubilee Gala at the Krzysztof Penderecki Festival Marking the Composer’s 80th birthday in November 2013.
In February 2014 he toured in Israel (Tel Aviv-Bronfman Auditorium, Haifa-Municipal Auditorium, Jerusalem-International Convention Centre) with The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra performing “Polish Requiem” by Krzysztof Penderecki, under the baton of the composer and with Gary Bertini Israeli Choir.
