Agnieszka Rehlis
Agnieszka Rehlis graduated with honours from the Singing Faculty of the Academy of Music in Wrocław in 1996. In the course of three years of study she received scholarships from the Ministry of Culture and Art. She was awarded 1st prize at the Franciszka Platówna Vocal Competition in Wrocław (1991) and 3rd prize at the 3rd International Vocal Competition in Duszniki Zdrój (1994). She has participated in a number of master classes with such artists as Krystyna Szostek-Radkowa, Adele Stolte, Christian Elsner and Gerhard Kahry, following the completion of which she performed in concerts at the “Wratislavia Cantans” Festival of Music.
From 1996 to 2007 Agnieszka was a soloist of the Wrocław Opera, where she sang her debut as Jadwiga in Moniuszko’s Haunted Manor. She also sang many important parts in operas by Verdi (Fenena in Nabucco, Flora in La Traviata, Meg Page in Falstaff, Magdalena in Rigoletto), Gounod (Sibel in Faust), W. A. Mozart (Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte), G. Bizet (Mercedes in Carmen), Z. Rudziński (Eurydyka in Antygona). With the Opera, Agnieszka Rehlis completed tours of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Ireland, France, Italy and Taiwan. She also took part in great opera performances which took place in the People’s Hall in Wrocław (Carmen, Nabucco, Il Trovatore, Haunted Manor, Fiddler on the Roof, Das Rheingold), as well as the first performance of A. Ponchielli’s Gioconda staged on the Odra river in Wrocław and recorded by Polish Television (2003). Her debut in the Teatr Wielki – the National Opera in 2003 was in the role of Fenena in Verdi’s Nabucco.
Agnieszka Rehlis focuses mainly on oratorio and cantata works, with more than 80 works in her repertoire, ranging from J. S. Bach to Krzysztof Penderecki. She has performed in concert halls in Poland and in Europe (Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Ukraine, Lithuania, Austria, Latvia, Russia, Slovenia and Spain). She has also appeared in international festivals, including the Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, Wratislavia Cantans, the Chopin Festival in Duszniki Zdrój, International East-West Meetings in Zielona Góra, the Baltic Countries Festival in Toruń, Usedomer Music Festival in Peenemunde, Festival Pablo Casals in Prades, Sacred Music Festivals in Marseilles and Nuremberg, the George Enescu International Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Contrasts International Music Festival in Lvov, Praskie Jaro and the Beijing Music Festival.
She has performed with many renowned conductors, including Jiří Bělohlávek, Gabriel Chmura, Sir Andrew Davis, Patrick Summers, Lawrence Foster, Marco Guidarini, Gaetano d’Espinosa, Gustavo Dudamel, Jacek Kaspszyk, Kazimierz Kord, Bramwell Tovey, Antoni Wit and Long Yu, conducting the National Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice, the NDR Symphony Orchestra, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Juventud Venezolana Simón Bolivar, Orchestra of the Luxemburg Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the National Philharmonic Orchestra.
She has performed in many concerts in Poland and abroad conducted by Krzysztof Penderecki, featuring such works as Polish Requiem, Te Deum, Credo and Seven Gates of Jerusalem (at Midem Classique 2000 in Cannes). She also sang in the first performance of Penderecki’s Symphony No. 8 titled Lieder der Vergänglichkeit (Songs of Transience). In September 2005 she recorded Te Deum, Lieder der Vergänglichkeit in 2006 and Utrenya in 2008. All recording were made for Naxos.
Other recordings featuring the singer made for DUX received the FRYDERYK award. These include I. J. Paderewski’s opera Manru (in the “Best recording of Polish music” category, 2004 ) and Stanisław Moniuszko’s “Masses, part I” (in the “Album of the year – choral and oratorio music” category, 2009). The second album of Moniuszko’s masses received the Orphée d’or Prix Arturo Toscanini award from the Academie du Disque Lyrique (in the “Best recording initiative category”). Agnieszka Rehlis has also made recordings for DVD, including Penderecki’s Polish Requiem (performed during a concert in the hall of the Szczecin Shipyard to commemorate the events of December 1970) and Seven Gates of Jerusalem directed by Jarosław Minkowicz and Tomasz Bagiński. The latter received the “Czech Crystal” grand prize in the “Music on the screen” category at the Golden Prague International Festival of Music Productions for Television.
Recently, apart from important performances of oratorio music, including Roman Maciejewski’s Requiem in the Westminster Cathedral in London, the singer has also been successful in the genre of opera. Agnieszka Rehlis took part in the first stage production of The Passenger – an opera by Mieczysław Weinberg directed by David Poutney at the Festival in Bregenz. She also sang in the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in a guest ballet performance of Chopin, staged by the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw. Excellent performances in première performances in the Teatr Wielki – the National Opera, including Maffio Orsini in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia, Lisa in Weinberg’s The Passenger and Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder to the words of Mathilde Wesendonck during the première performance of the ballet “Tristan” and Berlioz’ song during the ballet Chopin were highly praised by audience and critics alike.
On 14 January 2011 Agnieszka Rehlis had the honour of appearing in a special concert at the National Philharmonic to officially conclude the Chopin Year. Together with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra under the direction of Valeri Gergiev she sang Krzysztof Penderecki’s latest work A Sea of Winds Did Breathe on Me… composed to words by Polish poets. In the 2013/2014 Agnieszka Rehlis sang in Teatr Wielki – National Opera in Warsaw. Her parts included Richard Strauss’ Elektra (directed by Willy Decker) and Martha in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta under the direction of V. Gergiev (directed by Mariusz Treliński, 2013). In June 2014 she sang the part of Hagar in the first performance of Eugeniusz Knapik’s opera Moby Dick, garnering rave reviews for her performance. During the same season she also sang Azucena in the Cracow Opera (directed by Laco Adamik).
In 2014 she appeared for the first time in the Houston Grand Opera and in New York during the Lincoln Center Festival in Weinberg’s opera The Passenger. In February 2014 Rehlis embarked on a tour with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, singing in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Polish Requiem under the direction of the composer. In November 2014 in Brussels she sang in the first performance of Krzysztof Penderecki’s newest work, Dies Illa, written to commemorate the anniversary of the breakout of World War I. The work was commissioned by the van Vlaanderen Festival. In December 2014 the singer performed Mahler’s Symphony No.8 four times with the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion under the direction of Maestro Noam Scheriff. In 2015 she appeared for the first time in the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Weinberg’s opera The Passenger.
In September 2015 Agnieszka Rehlis sang a recital of songs at the Teatro Municipal de Las Condes in Santiago de Chile and also appeared in the première performance of Bizet’s Carmen in the Podlaska Opera and Philharmonic in Białystok. She also recorded a CD with Jerzy Maksymiuk at the Musica Sacromontana Festival. She sang in performances of oratorio works in Israel with Camerata Jerusalem. She recently appeared in her Berlin Philharmonic debut , singing in Szymanowski’s “Stabat Mater”, which she has recorded for Warner Classics in December 2015 with Aleksandra Kurzak and Artur Ruciński in the National Philharmonic in Warsaw under the direction of Jacek Kaspszyk. She also sang the “Stabat Mater” at the Klara Festival under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski with the London Symphony Orchestra.
In January 2016 she sang for the first time the part of Amneris in Verdi’s Aida in the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn, receiving very good reviews in, among others, the OPERNWELT magazine.
