Polish bass Rafał Pawnuk has been praised as a “sonorous” (Opera Magazine) “powerful and profound bass” (Das Opernglas), especially suited to the Verismo repertoire and Wagner roles.
In 2026-27 he will make his house and role debut at Staatstheater Darmstadt as Alfi o/Cavalleria Rusticana and Tonio/Pagliacci in Karsten Wiegand’s new production, alongside performances as Guglielmo/Cosi fan tutte, the title role in Szymanowski’s King Roger, Ferrando/Il trovatore and Zbigniew/Haunted Manor throughout Poland.
Most recent highlights include Antonio in Barrie Kosky’s production of Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims at the Salzburg Whitsun and Summer Festivals, Mr Flint/Billy Budd, Marchese di Calatrava/La Forza del destino and Ashby/La Fanciulla del West, all at Opéra de Lyon, as well as role debuts as Fasolt/Das Rheingold, Hunding/Die Walküre and Fafner/Siegfried in the Ring Cycle at Stadttheater Klagenfurt.
Previous seasons saw him appear at the Salzburg Festival as Mars in Barrie Kosky’s new production of Offenbach’s Orphee aux enfer and as Antonio in Martin Kušej’s production of Le nozze di Figaro. At Theater an der Wien he sang Sciarrone and Sagristano in Martin Martin Kušej’s production of Tosca. Other recent opera engagements include Vodnik/Rusalka at Opéra de Limoges, Nourabad/Les Pêcheurs de perles at Opéra de Lille and Cherea in Detlev Glanert’s Caligula at Nationaltheater Weimar.
A frequent guest at Castle Opera Szczecin Rafał Pawnuk’s roles there include the title role in Szymanowski’s King Roger, Ferrando, Escamillo/Carmen, Guglielmo, Betto/Gianni Schicchi and Priest in Philipp Glass’The Trial. At National Theatre Brno he has appeared as Vodnik, Il Re/Aida, Marchese d’Obigny/La traviata and Banco/Macbeth.
He has worked with conductors such as Marc Albrecht, Daniele Rustioni, Ingo Metzmacher, Vasily Petrenko, Marco Armiliato, Raphaël Pichon, Finnegan Downie Dear, Claus-Peter Flor, Sebastian Weigle, Asher Fish, Massimo Zanetti, Lothar Koenigs, Alexander Liebreich, Laurence Equilbey, Paolo Carignani, Enrique Mazzola and Kent Nagano.
His concert repertoire ranges from Handel to the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Dvořák, Stravinsky and Penderecki, which he has performed at venues such as Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie de Paris, De Doelen and Anima Mundi Festival in Pisa, with ensembles including the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Orchestre de Pau Pays de Béarn, Choeur Accentus, Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and Insula Orchestra.
Rafał Pawnuk studied at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz with Leszek Skrla and at the Academy of Music in Krakow with Marek Rzepka. He is a former member of the Opera Studio of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and winner of the fi rst prize at the 13th International Vocal Competition Iuventus Canti in Slovakia.