Wojtek Smilek

Originally from Poland, he studied singing at the Academy of Music in Krakow. In 1992, he unanimously won the Grand Prix of the Bellini Competition in Sicily. He sang at the Festival de Radio France and Montpellier in Rienzi by Wagner, Sigurd by Reyer, Missa di Gloria by Puccini. He then joined the Vienna Staatsoper troupe for two years, where he performed the major roles of the French and Italian repertoire. He is also found on the stages of the Royal Opera of Wallonia, Nantes, Lille and Saint-Etienne, in the roles of Jorg (Stiffelio), Grémine (Eugène Onéguine), Brother Laurent (Romeo and Juliet). He was invited to the Chorégies d'Orange for the role of Angelotti (Tosca), and performed at the Grand Théâtre de Genève the role of Ferrando in Il Trovatore. He also sang in the Requiem of Verdi and Samson et Dalila in Saint-Etienne, Don Carlos in Geneva and at the Chorégies d'Orange. Then he returned to Liège for the roles of Banco (Macbeth), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Oroveso (Norma) and for La Favorite. In Las Palmas, he can be seen in the role of Alidoro (La Cenerentola) and at the Teatro Real as well as at the Paris Opera in that of The Archbishop (King Roger by Szymanowski). More recently, he sang Talbot (Maria Stuarda) at the Wielki Theater in Warsaw and Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra) in Avignon and Toulon, the Prince de Bouillon (Adriana Lecouvreur) at the Opéra national de Paris, Jacopo Loredano (I due Foscari), Banco (Macbeth), the Grand Inquisitor (Don Carlo) in Marseille, Monterone (Rigoletto) at the Chorégies d'Orange, Oroveso (Norma) at the Opéra de Rouen and in Oman, Verdi's Requiem in Saint-Etienne, the Old man Hebrews (Samson and Dalila) at the Opéra de Metz and Massy, Rouché and Pietro Fléville (Andrea Chénier) at the Opéra de Toulon. At the OnR, he sang in Tchaikovsky's La Pucelle d'Orléans, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth and Les Huguenots.

Update September 2020