Robert Gierlach
bass-baritone | Poland, °1969
Polish bass-baritone Robert Gierlach made his debut with Teatro alla Scala in Milan as the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, and his American debut as Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro with Michigan Opera Theatre to unanimous acclaim.
Recent performances include Creon in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex with Charles Dutoit with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva and Lausanne, with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo; Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Lyra Ottawat and a return to the Michigan Opera Theatre as Don Giovanni, a role he performed in his Arizona Opera and Opera Cleveland debuts. He most recently performed Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in Vienna and Kraków (Poland); Mendelssohn’s Elias and a Mozart and Chopin concert in Warsaw, and Papageno in The Magic Flute in Gdańsk (Poland) and with the Warsaw National Opera.
Additionally, Robert Gierlach recently made his New York City Opera debut as Leporello in Don Giovanni, and created the role of Vronsky in the world premiere of Anna Karenina with Florida Grand Opera and the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He also performed Papageno in The Magic Flute with the Michigan Opera Theatre, and Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro with Baltimore Opera, Opéra de Montreal and Florida Grand Opera.
Recent engagements abroad include King Roger in Tokyo, Zurich and Stockholm, Alidoro in La Cenerentola at the Opera House of Mahón (Menorca), Achille in Giulio Cesare with the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Figaro and Don Giovanni at the Mozart Festival in Warsaw and Jeanie d’Arc with Oratorium-Wratislavia Cantans Festival. Additionally, he has performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Rome Opera, Teatro Filarmonico Verona, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Verdi di Trieste, Royal Albert Hall, Salzburg Opera, Amsterdam Opera, L’Opera de Nice, Opera of Marseilles, Champs-Elysées Theatre, Cape Town Opera, and the Festival of Glyndebourne.
In concert, Robert Gierlach has appeared in King Roger and Rossini’s Stabat Mater at Carnegie Hall and at Places des Arts with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; Stabat Mater with the Berlin Philharmonic, in Warsaw under the baton of Nello Santi, and in Vienna; Oedipus Rex with the Orchestre National de France; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in Dresda and Rostock; Handel’s Dettingen Te deum with the Cracow Philharmonic; Haydn’s Creation with the NHK Orchestra Toyko conducted by Charles Dutoit; Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Teatro Filarmonico Verona conducted by Shlomo Minz; the Holocaust Cantata at the Shleswig Holstein Festival with conductor Yehundi Menuhin; Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem with the Bydgoszcz Philharmonic; Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Krakow Philharmonic; Mozart’s Requiem with the Warsaw Philharmonic; and Bartok’s Cantata Pagana with the Polish National Philharmonic.
A native of Poland, Robert Gierlach received his degree from the Academy of Music of Chopin, under the instruction of Professor Kazimierz Pustelak. He can be heard on numerous recordings with the Radio and Television Polonaise, and on a recording of King Roger with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.