The Polish baritone, Wojtek [Wojciech] Drabowicz, studied at the Academy of Music in Poznan from 1984 to 1989. In 1988 he won the Adam Didur-Concours competition as well as the Belvedere International Competition in Vienna and in 1990 won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
Wojtek Drabowicz made his professional opera debut in 1989 at the Great Theatre in Poznan, performing the title role of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. He was a Polish operatic baritone and leading performer at the Polish National Opera from 1989 to 2007. In 2004 he toured with the Polish National Opera to London, and performed the title role of Karol Szymanowski`s King Roger.
Wojtek Drabowicz performed for major opera houses and concert stages throughout Europe. He was a regular guest performer at the Glyndebourne Festival where his roles included Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Eugene Onegin, Tomsky in The Queen of Spades, and the title roles in Don Giovanni and Mazeppa. In 1991 he performed at the Bregenzer Festspiele in the role of Moralès in Georges Bizet's Carmen. In 1995 he made his debut at La Monnaie as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. In that same year he made his first appearance at the Kiel Opera House as Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande and three years later, he created Vershinin in the world premiere of Péter Eötvös' Trois Soeurs.
Wojtek Drabowicz remained a regular performer of the Polish National Opera House up until his sudden death at the age of 41. In 2007, he suffered a heart attack brought about by a car accident. |