Performer Biography
Mark Rucker
Baritone
From his debut as Renato in Un ballo in maschera with Luciano Pavarotti for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, American baritone Mark Rucker has been sought by opera houses and on concert stages throughout the world. Last season he was called to the Vienna State Opera as Stankar in Siffelio, to Graz as Nabucco, to Liege as Rigoletto, to the Florida Grand Opera as Tonio in I pagliacci, and to New Orleans as Scarpia in Tosca.
Mr. Rucker made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Amonasro in Aida in 2004 and has since been heard in the house as Don Carlo in La forza del destino, Tonio in I pagliacci, and as Rigoletto for the Met in the Parks. He made his European debut as Alfio and Tonio for Opera de Nice, and has continued his European career with performances as Alfio at the Vienna State Opera, Amonasro in Aida for the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin with Fabio Luisi and with the Concertgebouw Orchestra under the baton of Riccardo Chailly, made his Italian debut as Rigoletto with Daniele Gatti at the Teatro Communale in Bologna, and his debut at the Arena di Verona as Amonasro.
In most recent seasons Mr. Rucker made his role debut in the title role of Der fliegende Hollander for the Opera Royal de Wallonie in Liege, sang the title role of Nabucco in Palm Beach, Tonio in I pagliacci at the Portland Opera, and Di Luna in Il Trovatore in New Orleans. He returned to Bologna as both Macbeth and Nabucco, made his Carnegie Hall debut as Don Carlo in La forza del destino opposite Maria Guleghina and Salvatore Licitra, returned to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam as both Antonio in Linda di Chamounix and Le Comte de Toulouse in Verdi’s Jerusalem with the Netherlands Radio Orchestra, has been Macbeth in Trieste, Rigoletto with the Israel Philharmonic, Nabucco in Athens and Liège, and was Rigoletto and Amonasro at the Netherlands Opera.
Mr. Rucker’s extensive American career has taken him to the New York City Opera for his debut as Rigoletto, to the San Diego Opera as Renato in Un ballo in maschera and Amonasro in Aida, to Miami with the Florida Grand Opera as Rigoletto, Nabucco, Macbeth, and for Cavalleria rusticana and I pagliacci, to the Baltimore Opera as Nabucco, to L'Opera de Montreal as Di Luna in Il trovatore, the New Orleans Opera as Rigoletto, Tonio and Alfio, to Vancouver as Rigoletto and Amonasro, Mexico City as Amonasro, and for the majority of the dramatic baritone repertoire to the theaters of Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cleveland, Connecticut, Detroit, Dublin, Graz, Jessi, Milwaukee, North Carolina, Opera Pacific, Orlando, Portland, Taipei, Virginia, among many others.
Mr. Rucker has been heard in the Festivals of Bregenz and Savonlinna, in concert with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Stefan Sanderling, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the Columbus Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and the Chicago Civic Symphony. Mr. Rucker can be heard as Amonasro on the Naxos release of Aida.
Opera Carolina Performances:
AIDA (2013–2014)
La Traviata (2010–2011)
Aida (2007–2008)
Love Notes (2007–2008)
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