Wolfgang Schmidt

Wolfgang Schmidt studied voice at the Frankfurt University of Music with Prof. Martin Gründler and received an award from the Hindemith Foundation. While still a student, he launched an international concert career and performed with the pocket opera company nürnberg. After engagements in Hof, Kiel, and Dortmund, he joined Deutsche Oper am Rhein in 1988, performing leading roles and receiving the title Kammersänger in 1996. Closely associated with Bayreuth since 1992, Wolfgang Schmidt has appeared worldwide in major Wagner roles and is a regular guest at the Vienna State Opera. Since 2003/2004, he has expanded into character tenor repertoire.

Wolfgang Schmidt the the Bayreuth Festival

1992

Tannhäuser (Tannhäuser)

1993

Tannhäuser (Tannhäuser)

1994

Siegfried (Siegfried)
Götterdämmerung (Siegfried)

1995

Siegfried (Siegfried)
Götterdämmerung (Siegfried)
Tannhäuser (Tannhäuser)

1996

Siegfried (Siegfried)
Götterdämmerung (Siegfried)
Tristan und Isolde (Tristan)

1997

Siegfried (Siegfried)
Götterdämmerung (Siegfried)

1998

Siegfried (Siegfried)
Götterdämmerung (Siegfried)

2000

Götterdämmerung (Siegfried)
Siegfried (Siegfried)

2001

Götterdämmerung (Siegfried)

2002

Götterdämmerung (Siegfried)

2003

Götterdämmerung (Siegfried)
Siegfried (Siegfried)

2004

Götterdämmerung (Siegfried)
Siegfried (Siegfried)

2009

Siegfried (Mime)
Das Rheingold (Mime)

2010

Siegfried (Mime)
Das Rheingold (Mime)

Selected Biographies

One of the finest monuments in sound ever to have been raised to the everlasting glory of music. (Claude Debussy on Parsifal)

"The thing about Wagner is that there can be no true success in any production of his operas, only degrees of failure. There is so much in these bloody pieces, all you can do is try to live up to them." (Keith Warner, The Guardian)

"I have never come across an audience with so much hatred, so much anger, such a thirst for revenge. They take everything personally. It makes you a little bit scared, and it's really quite terrifying." (Lance Ryan on the audiences at Bayreuth)

"People sometimes complain that Wagner operas are too long, that they get stiff and sore about 10.30 because they have rushed in to hear one of his works straight from work and are not properly prepared for listening to his music. The audience, as much as the artists, must be prepared for a performance."
(Benjamin Britten to Alan Blyth, Gramophone)

"I was bowled over. It was the year after Wieland Wagner had died; to be able to see his productions was a total knock-out. These bare stagings, where everything was done with lighting. The light changed with the music, and the shadows and patterns seemed as archetypal as the music itself. Nobody had done that on the stage before. I thought it was extraordinary and wonderful."
(Patrick Carnegy to The Guardian)

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