English Section

Polish opera singer to perform at German festival despite injury

03.08.2022 09:00
Internationally renowned Polish bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny is poised to perform at Germany's Bayreuth opera festival on Wednesday night despite an injury he suffered earlier in the week.
Audio
Tomasz Konieczny
Tomasz KoniecznyPR2

Konieczny is set to sing the part of Wotan, disguised as Wanderer, in Wednesday’s premiere of Wagner’s Siegfried at the Bayreuth Festival in southern Germany.

Konieczny was injured by a piece of stage furniture while singing Wotan on the opening night of Die Walküre on Monday.

He was hurt when the back of an armchair fell off. Konieczny sang until the end of act two, but was in such pain that he could not continue.

Germany's Michael Kupfer-Radecky replaced him in the third act.

Konieczny, 50, is Poland’s first Wotan in the 140-year history of the Bayreuth Festival. He has said in an interview that to sing Wotan at Bayreuth is a "dream come true" for him.

The annual Bayreuth Festival in Bayreuth, southern Germany, celebrates 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner. It attracts thousands of Wagner fans to the Bavarian town every summer.

(mk/gs)

Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Elżbieta Krajewska.