Mariusz Kwiecień is recognized worldwide as one of the leading baritones before the public today. Known for his handsome voice, incisive musicianship and captivating stage presence, he performs with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Covent Garden in London, Paris National Opera, Vienna State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and with many other renowned theatres around the world. He is in demand for his portrayals of the title roles in Don Giovanni, King Roger, and Eugene Onegin, as well as for Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Riccardo in I puritani, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore and Marcello in La bohème.
Mariusz Kwiecień began the 2012-2013 season singing Belcore in a new production of L’elisir d’amore by Bartlett Sherr at the Metropolitan Opera, a production that was featured in the Met: Live in HD series (Oct. 13, 2012). He continued his commitment to Szymanowski’s King Roger in Bilbao, Spain, and in March he will be heard in performance at Teatro Real in Madrid as Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles. In May, he returns to Royal Opera House Covent Garden for his role debut as Rodrigo in Don Carlo and will be heard in the same role at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (July).
Last season he sang the title role in a new production of Don Giovanni for the Metropolitan Opera, which was broadcast in the Met: Live in HD series (Oct. 29, 2011). Don Giovanni was also the role for his debut at the New National Theatre in Tokyo and his return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic in May 2012 for fully staged performances of the opera in Disney Hall under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel. During the summer he returned home to Krakow to sing Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro and to Santa Fe Opera for performances of the title role in a new production of King Roger.
Mr. Kwiecień sang Enrico in a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor to open the Metropolitan Opera’s season (Sept. 24, 2007), which he later reprised for the Met: Live in HD (February 7, 2009). The title role in Don Giovanni has been essential in Mariusz Kwiecień’s career. The international press has exalted his performances of this role at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Covent Garden, Warsaw Opera and Santa Fe Opera, and in many other opera houses in Europe, Japan and the United States. He is also closely associated with the title role in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin which took him to Moscow for his debut at the Bolshoi in a production which he subsequently performed with the Bolshoi Company at the Paris National Opera, Covent Garden and Teatro Real in Madrid. In 2009, he created a sensation at the Paris National Opera in his first performances of Szymanowski’s King Roger.
In the 2010-11 season, Mr. Kwiecień returned to the Metropolitan Opera for his celebrated portrayal of Malatesta in Don Pasquale under the baton of James Levine and sang Marcello in La bohéme with the company on tour in Japan. He sang the title role in King Roger at Teatro Real in Madrid, Eugene Onegin in Krakow and was heard in solo concerts in Prague and Łódź, Poland.
His discography includes his first solo recording, Slavic Heroes, which was released in January 2012 on the Harmonia Mundi label. There are also DVDs with Met productions: Don Pasquale and Lucia di Lammermoor (both Deutsche Grammophon). His performance of the title role in Eugene Onegin for the Bolshoi Opera was recorded live on DVD and released by BelAir Classiques. He has also recorded Brahms’ German Requiem with the Rotterdam Philharmonic on DVD for BIS and with the Atlanta Symphony for Telarc.
Mariusz Kwiecień is a native of Krakow, Poland. He was a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

Simona Houda-Šaturová

Simona Houda-Šaturová is a sought-after interpreter of Mozart roles, as well of the Italian bel canto repertoire. Her signature parts include Mozart’s Constanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Ilia (Idomeneo), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), and Sandrina (La finta giardiniera); Rossini’s Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia); Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Adina (L’elisir d’amore); Bellini’s Giulietta (I Capuletti e i Montecchi); Verdi’s Gilda (Rigoletto). She has been featured in major concert and opera productions in the Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Tonhalle Zurich, Munich’s Herkules-Saal, and festivals in Salzburg, Edinburgh and Lucerne. She is also a frequent guest at the Frankfurt Opera where she performed as Mozart’s Pamina, Madama Cortese in Rosinni’s Il viaggio a Reims, Oscar in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor. Simona is a welcome guest of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels; to a great success she has already sung there Ilia (Idomeneo), Sandrina (La finta giardiniera) and in December 2012, the title role of Verdi’s La traviata in a new production conducted by Adam Fischer. She is a permanent guest of the National Theatre Opera in Prague.
Simona Houda-Šaturová is also a renowned concert singer. In 2006, she made her debut at the Salzburg Festival while at the same year she was invited by Christoph Eschenbach to perform in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 at the opening gala of the Pleyel Hall in Paris. Again with Eschenbach, she cooperated on his tour with Mahler’s Symphony of Thousands in 2011 (Prague, Hamburg, Hannover). To name a few other successful performances: Carnegie Hall with Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra in Canada, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra (Ivan Fischer), London Philharmonic Orchestra New Year’s Concert (Haydn: Die Schöpfung) with Adam Fischer, tour with Philippe Herreweghe and Orchestre des Champs-Elysées and a tour of Germany with Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s oratorio Elijah alongside baritone Thomas Quasthoff and under the baton of Helmuth Rilling.
Simona cooperates with leading conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Neville Marriner, Adam Fischer, Iván Fischer, Manfred Honeck, Leopold Hager, Helmuth Rilling, Sylvain Cambreling, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Jiří Bělohlávek, Kent Nagano, Tomáš Netopil, John Fiore, Rolf Beck, Martin Haselböck, Christopher Hogwood etc.
Her discography includes: CD Gloria with Christmas and festive songs (Artesmon), recording of Saint-Saëns’s Christmas Oratorio (Sony BMG), Haydn’s Harmonie-Messe and Theresienmesse (Hänssler Classics), album of Haydn’s opera arias (Orfeo, awarded with “Editor‘s Choice“) and Mozart’s spiritual compositions (Arco Diva). Her recordings of Johann Adolf Hasse’s Requiem & Miserere (Carus Verlag) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Christoph Eschenbach and Philadelphia Orchestra (Ondine) received the “Preis der deutschen Schallplatten Kritik“ critics’ award in Germany and a Supersonic Award.
Simona Houda-Šaturová was born in Bratislava and she graduated from the local conservatory. She expanded her vocal education in Prague (class of Soňa Kresáková), in master courses of Ileana Cotrubas in Vienna and Margreet Honig in Amsterdam. Simona Houda-Šaturová received the Award of Charlotte and Walter Hamel Foundation for exceptional vocal performances (Lübeck 2007) and the 2001 Thalia Award for the best Opera Performance. Appearing in benefit and charity concerts, in 2012 Simona became the patron of the Safety Line Association.

Reviews:
Výnimoční operní speváci priniesli na koncertné pódium aj kus divadla

Duo Kwiecień – Šaturová v cykle operných hviezd

Kwiecień se Šaturovou v Bratislavě

TV-documentary

TV TA3 – BRAVO! Mariusz Kwiecien – 12.7.2013