Employees

prof. dr hab.

Jadwiga Rappé

singing

Fot. Andrzej Świetlik

Jadwiga Rappé is an alto. She is one of Poland’s greatest singers. She graduated from the University of Warsaw, Department of Slavonic Philology. She studied under Professor Zofia Brégy, she also graduated from the Academy of Music in Wrocław, class of Professor Jerzy Artysz. She won the 1st award at the International Bach Competition in Liepzig, and a Golden Medal at the Festival of Young Soloists in Bordeaux. For the recording of Karol Szymanowski’s 3 Fragments of Poems by J. Kasprowicz (with Maja Nosowska) the artist was honoured with the Polish Radio award (at the initiative of Jan Weber) in 1982.

Jadwiga Rappé is, first of all, an oratorio and cantata singer, performing pieces from different historical periods, from baroque to contemporary music.

She has performed concerts in the most famous concert halls in Europe, North America and Asia, cooperating with such renowned conductors as: R. Chailly, Sir C. Davies, N. Harnoncourt, K. Nagano, A. Jordan, M. Janowski, K. Penderecki and A. Wit. She participated in the premieres of contemporary pieces, e,g, Seven Gates of Jerusalem by K. Penderecki in Jerusalem in 1997 under the baton of L. Maazel, or Missa pro pace by W. Kilar at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw under the baton of K. Kord in 2001, as well as premieres of works composed specially for her original alto voice (by J. Łuciuk, P. Moss and K. Baculewski). In 2008 in Prague she took part in the world premiere of Ladislav Kubik’s Gong. Sinfonietta for solo mezzo-soprano, Mied choir and orchestra, and on 1 July 2011 she participated in the premiere of Paweł Mykietyn’s Symphony no.3 at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, written specially for her voice.

In Jadwiga Rappé’s repertoire are also alto parts in operas by Gluck, Haendel, Ponchielli, Verdi and R. Strauss.

Her great success was the part of goddess Erda in R. Wagner’s cycle of four operas The Ring of the Nibelung. The artist sang the part during 9 premiere productions at leading opera theatres around the world. She also recorded the part for EMI under the baton of B. Haitink. She was also very successful as a performer of the parts of Gaea in Daphne by R. Strauss and Clytemnestra in Elektra by R. Strauss, presented by the artist on stages of Deutsche Oper in Berlin and L’Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, and also during many concerts around the world.

She has collaborated with many famous opera directors, such as: Goetz Friedrich, Herbert Wernicke, Yannis Kokkos, or Krzysztof Warlikowski. Her discography covers 48 CD albums, mainly for the labels: BMG Music, Teldec, Erato, Denon, Orfeo, Philips, Decca, Chandoz, CD-Accords , Naxos and DUX. Many albums recorded with her participation won international prizes, 7 of the CDs recorded in Poland won the ‘Fryderyk’ awards, and 9 more were nominated for it.

The Polish Requiem by K. Penderecki, recorded with her participation for Naxos, was awarded for ‘Grammy 2005’ award. The album S. Moniuszko. Songs recorded with Maja Nosowska won the ‘Orpheed’Or’ prize in 2011 in France, awarded by the AcademieduDisqueLyrique for the Best recording of songs, the album also had great reviews worldwide. In 2012 the live recording of G. Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (Katowice Orchestra For Radio and Television under the baton of M. Zilm, with P. Kusiewicz – tenor) was honoured in a similar way.

Jadwiga Rappé is often invited to sit on a jury of vocal competitions in Poland and abroad, she also teaches master courses.

She is Professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. From March 2006 to March 2009 she headed the board of the Witold Lutosławski Society.

More information on private website: www.rappe.pl