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The German tenor and Kammersänger, Wolfgang Schmidt, completed his singing studies with Professor Martin Gründler at the Frankfurter Musikhochschule (1976-1982), in which he was honored for special achievements by the Hindemith-Stiftung.
Already during his studies Wolfgang Schmidt sang with the Pocket Opera Company Nürnberg and developed an active concert activity that took him to all western European countries as well as to Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Venezuela and Japan. He took part in gramophone recordings and numerous radio recordings, as well as in the television program "Anneliese Rothenberger stellt vor" (1986). He had his first three engagements - two seasons each - in Hof, Kiel and Dortmund. In Dortmund he sang a highly acclaimed Otello at the age of 30. From 1988, he has been a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf and Duisburg), where he has performed almost all the important roles in his field and stayed and sang well into the 2010's. In 1996 the Deutsche Oper am Rhein awarded him the title of Kammersänger.
Wolfgang Schmidt sang as a guest in Köln (Siegmund, Florestan), Karlsruhe (Lohengrin, Stolzing), Hannover (Siegfried, Siegmund, Loge, Stolzing, Lohengrin, Parsifal, Otello, Kaiser, Bacchus, Max), Dresden (Erik, Parsifal, Tristan), Stuttgart (Florestan, Max), München (Florestan, Tambourmajor), Hamburg (Siegfried, Lohengrin, Florestan, Bacchus), Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin (Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Erik, Florestan, Pedro), Deutsche Oper Berlin (Siegfried, Siegmund, Tannhäuser, Erik), Barcelona (Erik), Opera Bastille Paris (Tristan), Royal Opera House London (Florestan), Chicago (Siegfried) and San Francisco (Tannhäuser, Tristan). In October 1991, he made his debut as the Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Wiener Staatsoper, where he was a regular guest from 1991 to 2012, and in May 1993 he sang Siegfried in the premiere of Götterdämmerung, where he stepped in for Siegfried Jerusalem. One of the highlights of his artistic career was his acclaimed USA debut as Siegfried in April 1993 at the Metropolitan Opera New York (1993, 1994, 1997 and 2009), where he also sang Bacchus the following year and Siegfried and Tannhäuser again in 1997.
Wolfgang Schmidt has appeared at numerous European festivals both as an opera and concert singer: Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, Dresdner Opern Festspiele, Brucknerfest Linz, Prager Frühling, Teatro Festival Parma, May Fest Glasgow, Festival de Wallonie, Flandern Festival, Festival de Otono (Madrid) and Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico).
From 1983 to 1987 he was a member of the Eutiner Sommerspiele, sang Erik at the Bregenz Festival from 1989 to 1990 and took part in the 1991 Salzburg Festival. In 1992 he made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival with Tannhäuser and in 1994 he took over both Siegfrieds there in the new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen under James Levine and Alfred Kirchner. He appeared there every year from 1992 to 2002. He made his successful debut at La Scala in Milan under Riccardo Muti as Siegfried in April 1997 and participated in the opening premiere of La Scala in 1999 as Siegfried in Götterdämmerung.
Wolfgang Schmidt had an impressive career, and in the very heaviest repertory: Otello, Grigorij, German, Florestan, Max, Lohengrin, Erik, Siegmund, both Siegfrieds, Tristan, Tannhäuser, Stolzing, Bacchus, Pedro, Calaf; later in his career, Ägisth, Herodes, Mime. |
