Rúni Brattaberg
Encyclopedia
Rúni Brattaberg is a Faroese
bass opera singer.
on the Faroese island of Suðuroy
. He is married to the German opera singer Suzanne Brattaberg-Jacoby.
Brattaberg first graduated as a documentary photographer in Copenhagen
before beginning training as a singer at the Sibelius Academy
in Finland
. He received private tutoring from Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
in Helsinki
and from Ventzeslav Katsarov in Bulgaria
. From 1999 to 2000 he attended the International Operastudio in Zürich as well as continuing his private work with Wentzeslav Katsarov in Bulgaria.
at the Stara Zagora
(Bulgaria). From 2001 to 2005 he was the bass soloist at the National Theatre in Mainz
. In 2002 he sang the Faroese National Anthem
at the European Football Championship. The Faroes
played against Germany in Hannover.
In 2004 composer Gavin Bryars
wrote two pieces for choir and bass soloist especially for Brattaberg which were first performed in London
in November 2004. From 2005 to 2006 Brattaberg served as bass soloist at Bern's City Theatre and had guest performances at the Stara Zagora (Bulgaria) and Ústí nad Labem
(Czech Republic
) City Theatres. In 2006 he was engaged at the theatres of Bonn
, Ulm
, and Detmold
.
From 2009 to 2010 he could be seen at the Metropolitan Opera
, New York, and the Nationaltheater Mannheim
.
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
bass opera singer.
Early life and education
Rúni is the son of Árni and Karin Brattaberg from the village of VágurVágur
Vágur meaning Bay is a town on the Faroe Islands of Suðuroy, it is situated on the east coast of the island on the Vágsfjørður fjord, and dates from the fourteenth century. Expansion has meant that the nearby town of Nes is now a suburb of Vágur...
on the Faroese island of Suðuroy
Suðuroy
Suðuroy is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. The island covers 163.7 km². In 2010 there were 4763 inhabitants, but there has been a gradual decline in the population numbers ever since the 1950s....
. He is married to the German opera singer Suzanne Brattaberg-Jacoby.
Brattaberg first graduated as a documentary photographer in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
before beginning training as a singer at the Sibelius Academy
Sibelius Academy
The Sibelius Academy is a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...
in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. He received private tutoring from Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, DBE was a German-born Austrian/British soprano opera singer and recitalist. She was among the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century, much admired for her performances of Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, and Wolf.-Early life:Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike...
in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
and from Ventzeslav Katsarov in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. From 1999 to 2000 he attended the International Operastudio in Zürich as well as continuing his private work with Wentzeslav Katsarov in Bulgaria.
Opera career highlights
In 1999 he made his debut as Philipp II in Don CarlosDon Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
at the Stara Zagora
Stara Zagora
Stara Zagora is the sixth largest city in Bulgaria, and a nationally important economic center. Located in Southern Bulgaria, it is the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province...
(Bulgaria). From 2001 to 2005 he was the bass soloist at the National Theatre in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
. In 2002 he sang the Faroese National Anthem
Tú alfagra land mítt
Tú alfagra land mítt , officially entitled Mítt alfagra land, is the national anthem of the Faroe Islands. The anthem's lyrics, composed in 1906, are by Símun av Skarði and the melody by Peter Alberg ....
at the European Football Championship. The Faroes
Faroe Islands national football team
The Faroe Islands national football team represents the Faroe Islands in association football and is controlled by the Faroe Islands Football Association, the governing body for football in the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands became a member of FIFA in 1988 and UEFA in 1990 and are the third...
played against Germany in Hannover.
In 2004 composer Gavin Bryars
Gavin Bryars
Richard Gavin Bryars is an English composer and double bassist. He has been active in, or has produced works in, a variety of styles of music, including jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, experimental music, avant-garde and neoclassicism.-Early life and career:Born in Goole, East...
wrote two pieces for choir and bass soloist especially for Brattaberg which were first performed in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in November 2004. From 2005 to 2006 Brattaberg served as bass soloist at Bern's City Theatre and had guest performances at the Stara Zagora (Bulgaria) and Ústí nad Labem
Ústí nad Labem
Ústí nad Labem is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Ústí nad Labem Region. The city is the 7th-most populous in the country.Ústí is situated in a mountainous district at the confluence of the Bílina and the Elbe Rivers, and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction...
(Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
) City Theatres. In 2006 he was engaged at the theatres of Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
, and Detmold
Detmold
Detmold is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of about 74,000. It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947...
.
From 2009 to 2010 he could be seen at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, New York, and the Nationaltheater Mannheim
Nationaltheater Mannheim
The present National Theatre Mannheim , which dates from 1957, is a theatre and opera company in Mannheim, Germany with a variety of performance spaces...
.
Opera Roles
- Daland in Der fliegende Holländer,The Flying Dutchman (opera)Der fliegende Holländer is an opera, with music and libretto by Richard Wagner.Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography Mein Leben that he had been inspired to write "The Flying Dutchman" following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839, but in his 1843...
- Basilio in Il Barbiere di SivigliaThe Barber of SevilleThe Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
- Fasolt and Fafner in Das RheingoldDas Rheingoldis the first of the four operas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen . It was originally written as an introduction to the tripartite Ring, but the cycle is now generally regarded as consisting of four individual operas.Das Rheingold received its premiere at the National Theatre...
- Priest and Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte at the Paris Opera Bastille
CDs
- Songs by SibeliusJean SibeliusJean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
, Schubert en MussorgskyModest MussorgskyModest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period... - Mikko Heiniö: The Knight and the Dragon by Curt Appelgren, Rúni Brattaberg, Mikko Heiniö, and Ulf Söderblom
- Brotið by Rúni Brattaberg, Regin Dahl, Modest MussorgskyModest MussorgskyModest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
, and Sunleif RasmussenSunleif RasmussenSunleif Rasmussen is the foremost Faroese composer of classical music.Rasmussen studied in Norway, then returned to Tórshavn in the Faroes as music teacher and jazz pianist. From 1990 to 1995 he studied musical composition at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen under Ib Nørholm and...
Sources
- Clements, Andrew, London Sinfonietta/Elts (review of Egil's Saga), The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 13 November 2004 - Musica Glotz Artists Management, Official biography
- Schinstad, Ingunn Aagedal, Den glade operasjef, Gudbrandsdølen Dagningen, 4 November 2009