Operatic first impressions

What is a first impression worth? The answer, for Polish opera star Mariusz Kwiecien, is 14 arias.

Kwiecien makes his Prague debut Nov. 25 in a concert of unparalleled variety backed by the Prague Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Polish conductor Lukasz Borowicz. The program consists of arias from Rossini, Mozart, Bellini, Donizetti, Musorgski, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Rachmaninoff and Verdi, which Kwiecien selected as a way to introduce himself to the local audience.

"Since this is my very first performance in Prague, I selected pieces that represent my career so the audience will get an idea of my voice, my art," he tells The Prague Post. "The concert will have two halves: one mostly Italian opera repertoire and the other more Slavic and Russian."

Kwiecien was born and raised in Kraków and began studying choral music at the Warsaw Academy in the early 1990s. After initially considering a career as a choral conductor, he decided to study opera, thanks to encouragement from his teachers. His professional stage career began in 1993, when Kwiecien sang as Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas at the Kraków Opera.

When he was 24, Kwiecien was invited to New York City to audition for James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, where he quickly achieved recognition. The singer made his American debut in 1999 as Kuligin in Káta Kabanová by Czech composer Leoš Janáček. Kwiecien says he feels a special affinity for Janáček's music because of its combination of beauty and complexity.

Over the past decade, Kwiecien has performed in major opera houses throughout Europe and the United States, winning several international awards, including the Hamburg and Vienna State Opera prizes, as well as the Mozart Interpretation Prize, among others. The singer has established his reputation in famous roles, including Eugene Onegin and Don Giovanni, a role he says "is ideally suited to me musically and dramatically, though I am no Don Juan."

Having frequently performed in neighboring Poland, Austria and Germany, Kwiecien is curious to see how he will be received by Czech audiences.

"The audience in each theater or concert hall responds in a different way. Mainly, I have learned that the audience responds best when it feels the artist has given his whole heart, but I don't think nationality plays any role," he said.

Kwiecien is known for bringing fresh insight to famous roles, so singing a selection of arias from different operas is something of a respite from the rigors of group rehearsals and long stretches of repertoire performances. The singer says he finds it difficult to separate the duties of singer and actor in his performances, but that difficulty is part of the reward.

"You cannot sing well unless you immerse yourself in the character, and you cannot act as the character unless you sing like him. It is also a communication between the character and the singer. I, as the performer, always have to ask the character in my mind how I could enrich him and what he could teach me," he said.

Just what does it take to reprise old roles with personal energy? According to Kwiecien, "It is most important for the singer to have a natural gift for singing, coupled with serious discipline and ambition. For me, being a strong musician is the key. I prepare my roles musically by myself without the assistance of a pianist or recordings. When I begin rehearsals for a production, I know my role completely. The music is in my mind and body."

After his concert in Prague, Kwiecien will return to Kraków for several performances before moving on to New York and Japan. With such a rigorous touring schedule, Kwiecien said he sometimes misses the quiet life.

"Traveling is a big part of what I do. Sometimes I enjoy it, while sometimes, when I'm going from engagement to engagement traveling around the world, I dream about being at home sitting by a fire in the hearth with a glass of good whisky in my hand," he said.

Who could fault him for that?

Stephan Delbos can be reached at
sdelbos@praguepost.com