Marcin Bronikowski (check!) died suddenly on February 29 while traveling to Albania. He was 55 years old.
He sang baritone and had 45 operas in his permanent repertoire. Parts were his signature roles Escamilla from “Carmen” by Georges Bizet and Sharpless in “Madame Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini.
“He was an outstanding talent, with a beautiful lyrical voice, and, moreover, an extremely modest and nice man, which made him very popular,” Marczyński emphasized. “His death is definitely premature,” added the “Rzeczpospolita” critic.
“Always smiling. Always friendly. A great colleague from the stage. He passed away suddenly,” she wrote Alicja Węgorzewska.
Marcin Bronikowski was born on May 28, 1968 in Warsaw, where he graduated from the Secondary School of Music. Karol Szymanowski. He took private singing lessons from the renowned opera artist Jadwiga Dzikówna. In 1992, he graduated from the Sofia Conservatory – obtaining a diploma with distinction. He studied opera singing with prof. Rusko Ruskova (1934-2015). He also improved his skills under Alberto Zedda at the Accademia Rossiniana in Pésaro and at La Scala in Milan with Carlo Bergonzi.
“He belonged to a new generation of singers who took advantage of their chance in the new reality after 1989. He was educated abroad and won his first awards there. He was a singer of a new generation who appears as a guest on many stages, the number of which in his case is impressive.” – said Marczyński.
At the age of 24, he made his debut on the stage of the Sofia National Opera with the role of Figaro in “The Barber of Seville” by Gioacchino Rossini. Two years later, his first performance took place on the stage of the Grand Theater – National Opera in Warsaw. At that time, he sang the part of Albert in the opera “Werther” by the French composer Jules Massenet. Bronikowski also performed there, among others. as Escamillo in “Carmen”, Giorgio Germont in “La Traviata” by Verdi. In Poland he also performed, among others, on the stage of the Krakow Opera, Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz, Grand Theater Stanisław Moniuszko in Poznań, the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk, the Grand Theater in Łódź.
Bulgaria occupied a special place in Bronikowski’s life. “Bulgaria has always been kind to me. I graduated here, I made my debut here, I play my dream main roles here and in a place that remembers ancient times. It is a country very close to my heart,” he said in 2023 in an interview for gazeta.pl.
“When I sing in Greek or Italian amphitheaters, I feel the unique solemnity of the moment. I must admit that I particularly appreciate the amphitheater in Plovdiv, which was discovered only in the 1980s. No one knew about it before. It was buried under the houses of ordinary people who they lived there and cultivated gardens,” he said last year.
Bronikowski has performed on the most famous opera stages in the world, such as Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, National Opera in Athens, National Opera in Shanghai and many others. In 2000, he was the first Polish baritone to debut on the stage of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London, performing the part of Dandini in Rossini’s “Cinderella”. Four years later, he performed for the first time at the famous La Scala in Milan as Escamillo in Bizet’s “Carmen”. The artist has won a number of awards, both Polish and foreign.
“Marcin was a very talented, sensitive and cordial man. He was able to find time for everyone. I will miss his tender look and truly individual approach,” a friend of the artist, a director and playwright, tells PAP Maria Marcinkiewicz-Górna.