Jadwiga Rappé’s first singing tutor was Zofia Brégy, then later Jerzy Artysz. During her studies at Wroclaw Music Academy her competence was brought up to the level of the best performers of compositions for alto voice.
In 1980 she won 1st Prize at the International Bach Competition in Leipzig, followed the next year by the Gold Medal at the International Festival of Young Soloists in Bordeaux.
Jadwiga Rappé has appeared on stage in mumerous European countries, USA, Canada, Japan, performing at the most prestigious concert halls including Musikverein and Konzerthaus (Vienna), La Salle Pleyel and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Paris), Gewandhaus (Leipzig), Philharmonie im Gasteig and Herkulessaal (Munich), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Royal Albert Hall (London), Carnegie Hall (New York), Kennedy Center (Washington), The State Hall Jerusalem. She has participated in renowned festivals including the Handel Festspiele in Karlsruhe, MDR-Musiksommer, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Salzburger Festspiele, Brucknerfest Linz, Styriarte Graz, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Proms in London, Wratislavia Cantans, Warsaw Autumn, Cassals Festival in Puerto Rico. She works with numerous reremarkable conductors as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Marek Janowski, Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davies, Seiji Ozawa, Leopold Hager, Helmut Rilling, Riccardo Chailly, Jesús López-Cobos, Charles Dutoit, Aleksandr Lazarev, Armin Jordan, Krzysztof Penderecki, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Lorin Maazel, Kent Nagano, Sir Simon Rattle, Klaus Tennstedt. Her repertoire is wide and comprises songs alongside opera and oratorio-cantata parts from Baroque through Romanticism to contemporary music (including i.e. Polish Requiem and Te Deum by Krzysztof Penderecki) The artist willingly participates in premiere performances of Polish contemporary music as she sang in Seven gates of Jerusalem by Penderecki – a work written especially to commemorate the third millenium of this city. Her original voice inspired Wojciech Kilar when composing the alto part of the Missa Pro Pace.
Furthemore, Jadwiga Rappé has recorded over 30 LPs and CDs for such record labels like Philips, Eterna, EMI, Erato, Teldec, Orfeo, BMG, Decca, Naxos and Polskie Nagrania. Recordings of the artist include the alto parts from Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Cantatas and Mass in B-minor, Handel’s Sosarme, Mozart’s Coronation Mass KV317, Ceremonial Vespers KV 339, Weissenhausmesse KV 139, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Ninth Symphony, Mahler’s 2nd and 3rd Symphonies, Das klagende Lied, Wagner’s Rheingold und Siegfried (Erda), Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater, King Roger and Demeter, Honneger’s King David, Penderecki’s Polish Requiem are found on.
Jadwiga Rappé’s repertoire includes parts in operas by Handel, Tschaikovsky, Gluck, Verdi, Ponchielli, Strauss. She received great acclaim for her Erda in Wagner’s Ring at performances in the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Covent Garden, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Festival d`Orange, Wiener Staatsoper, Oper Frankfurt, Grand Théâtre de Genève.
She is a frequent jury member of vocal competitions. Over the last few years she has been running a solo singing class at the Music Academy in Warsaw.
