Artur Ruciński & Pretty Yende

Two exceptional voices: an wonderful baritone and a brilliant soprano. Despite being born on different continents, thousands of miles apart, they have more in common than you would probably think. Apart from their shared love of music, they are both examples of people who rose to instant international fame by virtue of their talent and hard work.

Born and educated in Warsaw, Poland, Artur Ruciński started out on his career at the Warsaw Chamber Opera and the Polish National Opera, where he made his professional debut 20 years ago as Tchaikovsky's Onegin.

Since that time, he has returned to the Warsaw stage to star in such productions as Puccini's Turandot and Madama Butterfly, Bizet's Carmen, Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades, Mozart's The Magic Flute, Moniuszko's Halka, Zygmunt Krauze's Yvonne, Princess of Burgundy, Rossini's Barber of Seville, or Gounod's Faust.

Since his Warsaw debut, two events proved to be turning points in Ruciński's career. The first one was Daniel Barenboim's invitation to sing under his baton in a production of Eugene Onegin alongside Rolando Villazón at the Berlin Staatsoper in 2010. The other was the singer's American debut as Marcello in La bohème at the Los Angeles Opera in 2012. In the wake of his success in LA, Ruciński was invited to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, while his portrayal of Francesco in Verdi's I masnadieri at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy helped him assert himself as a Verdian baritone.

Today, Artur Ruciński is one of the world's top opera singers whose skill is widely appreciated by the audiences of the greatest and most prestigious opera stages internationally. Over the previous seasons, he could be heard at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Opéra Bastille in Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, and Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Sicily.

Pretty Yende was born in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga province, South Africa. She graduated cum laude from the South African College of Music, a department of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cape Town, and Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

After her debut at the Latvian National Theater in Riga as Micaëla in Carmen, she performed in all major international theaters, including Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra National de Paris, Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, La Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Opernhaus Zürich and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, ​​as well as, more recently, at the Wiener Staatsoper.

Ever since her debut at the Met in 2013 as Countess Adèle in Rossini's Le Comte Ory, she has returned to the stage on many occasions to sing in operas such as Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore or Lucia di Lammermoor.

Her unquestionable talent and magnetic appeal fully manifested themselves in her portrayals of Verdi's Violetta in La traviata, Bellini's Elvira in Ipuritani, Puccini's Musetta in La bohème, and Donizetti's Norina in Don Pasquale.

In 2010 Pretty Yende became the first artist in the history of the Belvedere competition to win top prize in every category, and went on to win First Prize in the Operalia Competition in 2011.

Artur Ruciński and Pretty Yende will perform for the first time together in front of the Warsaw audience in a concert to be held on 23 June 2022 at the main auditorium of the Polish National Opera.

PROGRAMME:

GIUSEPPE VERDI
Overture to the opera Luisa Miller

Miller's aria and cabaletta
Sacra la scelta è d’un consorte… Ah! fu giusto il mio sospetto
from Act 1 of the opera Luisa Miller  

GAETANO DONIZETTI
Linda's recitative and aria
Ah! Tardai troppo…. O luce di quest’anima
from Act 1 of the opera Linda di Chamounix

Lucia and Enrico's duet
Appressati, Lucia… Il pallor funesto, orrendo
from Act 2 of the opera Lucia di Lammermoor

GIUSEPPE VERDI
Overture to the opera Ballo in maschera

Renato's aria
Alzati…. Eri tu…
from Act 3 of the opera Ballo in maschera

GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rosina's cavatina
Una voce poco fa
from Act 1 of the opera The Barber of Seville

INTERMISSION 

GIUSEPPE VERDI
Prelude to Act 1 of the opera La traviata

Violetta's scene È strano… Sempre libera
from Act 1 of the opera La traviata  

Macbeth's aria and recitative
Perfidi…. Pietà, rispetto, amore
from Act 4 of the opera Macbeth  

Violetta and Giorgio's duet
Madamigella Valéry… Pura siccome un angelo
from Act 2 of the opera La traviata

PATRICK FOURNILLIER conductor
PRETTY YENDE soprano
ARTUR RUCIŃSKI baritone