Arnold Rutkowski

Tenor

Born in Lodz, Polish tenor Arnold Rutkowski has been internationally recognized in theatres such as the Opera National de Paris, Staatsoper Berlin, Opernahus Zürich, Staatsoper Hamburg, Semperoper Dresden, Grand Theatre de Geneve, Bolshoi Opera in Moscow, Mikhailovsky Opera in St Petersburg, Opera de Lyon, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, Opera Australia in Sydney, and at the Aix en Provence Festival.

Arnold Rutkowski begins the 2016/17 season at the Teatr Welki in Warsaw in a new production of Wladyslaw Zelenski’s rarely perfomed masterpiece, Goplana. He will also be heard there in his first performance as Pollione in Norma, opposite Edita Gruberova, and as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. Rutkowksi will return to Opera Australia as Don José in Carmen and to the Semperoper Dresden as the same role and Rodolfo in La Boheme. Other future engagements include his role debut as Riccardo in a new production of Un ballo in maschera in Wiesbaden and Cavaradossi in Tosca at Oper Stuttgart.

Highlights of last season included Rutkowski’s debuts at both the Opera National de Paris and Opera de Lyon in Iolanta, as well as his return to the Semperoper Dresden in Carmen and to Stuttgart in Madama Butterfly. He also sang his first Cavaradossi at the Mikhailovsky Theater and made his Netherlands debut as Pinkerton at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. 

Arnold Rutkowski completed his musical studies in Lodz. A winner of several prestigious vocal competitions, including the Jan Kiepura Vocal Competition, he was awarded the Cultur Arte Prize at the Placido Domingo Competition in 2009. Before graduating from his conservatory, Rutkowski was already invited to make his professional debut in Bornholm, Denmark as Ferrando in a production of Cosi fan Tutte, staged by Jonathan Miller. He subsequently joined the ensemble of the Wroclaw Opera where he was heard as the Duke in Rigoletto, Alfredo in La Travata, Rodolfo, Pinkerton and Don José. Rutkowski was invited to make his debut at the Polish National Opera in 2007 as Rodolfo and has returned often to that theatre in roles including Stefan in Monciusko's The Haunted Manor and the Duke. He made his German debut in this role at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden Opera in 2010.

In July of 2011, Rutkowski joined Anna Samuil of the Staatsoper Berlin for a Gala concert at the Bad Kissingen Festival under Marco Letonja. In August of 2011, he made his debut at the Royal Opera in Stockholm as Rodolfo. These performances were followed by his debuts at the Staatsoper Hamburg as the Duke, in Vienna at the Vienna Volksoper in Carmen, and in France as Rodolfo for Opera de Toulon. In the 2010/11 season, Rutkowski went on to debut at the Staatsoper Berlin as Alfredo, at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Duesseldorf as Pinkerton, and at the Finnish National Opera as Rodolfo. In February of 2012, Rutkowski returned to the Staatsoper Berlin as Lensky in Eugene Onegin. He subsequently appeared at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein for more performances of Madama Butterfly and as Don José. In June of 2012, Rutkowski sang Alfredo at the Polish National Opera in Warsaw, opposite Alexandra Kurzak and Andrzej Dobber.

In the 2012/13 season, Rutkowski made his debut at the Semperoper Dresden as Rodolfo, later singing this role for his return to the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. He appeared with Opera de Toulon as Pinkerton and made his debut with the Geneva Opera in the same role in April of 2013. Over the course of the season, Rutkowski was also heard as the Duke at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Duesseldorf and as Alfredo in Dresden. In the summer of 2013, Rutkowski made his debut with Opera Australia, again in La Traviata, and at Oper Stuttgart in La Boheme. He also made his Opernhaus Zürich debut as Rodolfo in December of 2013 and subsequently sang his first Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor for his debut at the Opera de Marseille.

Rutkowski began the 2013/14 season as Don José in a new production of Carmen at the Semperoper Dresden. He also appeared there as Rodolfo and at the Leipzig Opera as the Duke. In the fall of 2014, Rutkowski opened the season at the Grand Theatre de Geneve as the Duke and then starred as Manrico in Dmitry Cherniakov’s production of Il Trovatore at the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Rutkowski then returned to the Semperoper Dresden in Carmen and La Boheme and returned to Oper Stuttgart as Rodolfo. He made a highly acclaimed debut at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow as Alfredo and also appeared in South America for the first time as Edgardo in Lima, Peru. In July of 2014, Rutkowski made his debut at the Aix en Provence Festival as Vaudemont in Peter Sellars’ production of Iolanta, conducted by Teodor Currenzis.

Other roles in Rutkowski’s developing repertoire include the title roles in Gounod’s Faust and Romeo et Juliette, Massenet’s Werther, Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra, and Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur.