Rafał Bartmiński graduated from the Vocal & Acting Department of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice in the class of Professor Eugeniusz Sąsiadek.
He is a 3rd prize winner in the 11th Ada Sari Singing Competition in Nowy Sącz. In 2007 he placed second and received 11 non-competition prizes in the 6th Stanisław Moniuszko International Singing Competition in Warsaw.
Rafał Bartmiński engaged in an active concert career while still in school (Bach’s Mass in B minor, Magnificat, Mozart’s Requiem). He made his debut on the opera stage singing the part of Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s “Evgeni Onegin”, directed by Maciej Prus. (Teatr Wielki – the National Opera in Warsaw, 2002).
Since then, he has worked regularly with the Teatr Wielki – the National Opera, performing many lead tenor parts, including Tamino in Mozart’s – “In the Land of the Magic Flute”, Jontek – in Moniuszko’s “Halka” (conducted by Marc Minkowski), Stefan – in Moniuszko’s “The Haunted Manor”, Ismael in Verdi’s “Nabucco”, Boris in Janaček’s “Katia Kabanova”, Pinkerton in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”, Madwoman in Britten’s “Curlew River” and the Drum Major in Berg’s “Wozzeck”. The last role marked Bartmiński’s debut in the Bolshoi Theatre under the direction of Teodor Currentzis, with the production directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov.
Rafał Bartmiński made his mark singing such parts as Nemorino in Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore” (the Wrocław Opera), Don Ottavio in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” (the Wrocław Opera, the Cracow Opera), Alfredo in Verdi’s “Traviata” (Podlaska Opera, Latvian National Opera in Riga), Rudolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème, Don José in Bizet’s “Carmen” (Podlaska Opera), Wacław in Statkowski’s “Maria” (Wexford Opera Festival) and the Shepherd in Szymanowski’s “King Roger” (the Wrocław Opera, Oper Wiesbaden, Teatro Real in Madrid, Opera Bastille in Paris, Opernhaus in Wuppertal). The artist is also an active concert performer. He sang leading tenor parts in Krzysztof Penderecki’s oratorio “Te Deum”, “Kosmogonia” and in “Credo” (recorded on CD with the National Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Antoni Wit), Seven Gates of Jerusalem, “Polish Requiem” (in Leipzig with the MDR-Sinfonieorchester, with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in the Tel Aviv-Bronfman Auditorium, Haifa-Muncipial Auditorium and in Jerusalem in the International Convention Centre). He also sang Krzysztof Penderecki’s “Credo” under the direction of Valery Gergiev at the anniversary gala concert celebrating the composer’s 80th birthday.
Bartmiński sang in Verdi’s Messa di Requiem (International Sacred Music in Riga, Ljubljana Festival), Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (The Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion under the direction of Noam Sheriff), Szymanowski’s “Harnasie ”in the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice conducted by Jerzy Semkow), Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (the National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Stanisław Skrowaczewski) and Haendel’s oratorio “The Messiah” with Emma Kirkby and Michael Chance. Rafał Bartmiński sang in Szymanowski’s 3rd Symphony “Song of the Night” with the National Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Antoni Wit (the performance was recorded on DVD), with the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munich and Cologne under the direction of Mariss Jansons (released on CD) and with the Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE in Madrid under the direction of Hannu Lintu.
Rafał Bartmiński is a regular collaborator with some of the best orchestras, including the National Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Polish Radio (NOSPR), Sinfonia Varsovia and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared with renowned conductors, including: Gabriel Chmura, Teodor Currentzis, Miguel Gomez-Martinez, Tomas Hanus, Mariss Jansons, Jacek Kaspszyk, Hannu Lintu, Marc Minkowski, Tadeusz Wojciechowski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Andrzej Straszyński, Antoni Wit, Tadeusz Wojciechowski and Alberto Zedda and sang in productions directed by David Alden, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Mariusz Treliński, Jakob Messer, Michał Znaniecki, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Tomasz Konina, Andrzej Domalik, Krzysztof Zanussi and Krystyna Janda. He has made a large number of recordings, including Weinberg’s 7th Symphony “Polish Flowers”, Penderecki’s “Credo” and “Kosmogonia” (National Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir conducted by Antoni Wit), Stanisław Moniuszko’s Masses (the National Philharmonic Choir under the direction of Henryk Wojnarowski – the recording won a Fryderyk award in 2009), Tansman’s “Psaumes”, Lutosławski’s “Vocal – Instrumental Works” (Łódź Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir under conducted by Daniel Raiskin), Verdi’s “Falstaff”, Dobrzyński’s “Monbar, or the Filibusters” (Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra & the Polish Radio Choir conducted by Łukasz Borowicz), Koperski’s Missa Solemnis ex B (Orchestra of the Beethoven Academy & the Choir of the John Paul II Catholic University in Lublin, conducted by Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski), Pasquale Anfossi’s oratorio “La morte di San Filippo Neri” (Sinfonia Viva, Poznań Chamber Choir – the recording won the 2015 Orphée d’Or award).
Rafał Bartmiński has also appeared as an actor in Theatre of Polish Television in “the Casting Session”, directed by Krzysztof Zanussi and in Andrzej Domalik’s play “Maria Callas – master class” with Krystyna Janda. Rafał Bartmiński received the “Little Sceptre” award of the Polish Culture Foundation. This was initiated by Maria Fołtyn to honour the artist’s contribution in promoting the music of Stanisław Moniuszko.
