(Photo credit: Studioline Photography)

Tenor Peter Seiffert, known largely for his Wagnerian roles, passed away on April 14, at the age of 71.

Seiffert was born in Düsseldorf on Jan. 4 1954, to opera singer Helmut Seiffert. As a young boy, Seiffert was a soloist in a Düsseldorf boys’ choir. He studied at the Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf and went on to make his debut in 1978 at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. The following year, he was awarded second prize at the German Music Competition by the German Music Council.

In 1980, he became a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he remained a member until his death. There, he worked with Götz Friedrich to build his heldentenor repertoire. In 1980, Seiffert took on his first Wagner role as Erik in “The Flying Dutchman” at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He sang his first “Parsifal” in 1988 at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, and his first “Lohengrin” in 1989 in Munich at the Bavarian State Opera. In 1996, he made his debut as Stolzing in Wolfgang Wagner’s Bayreuth production of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.”

He made guest appearances at nearly all of the major opera houses in Italy, Japan, the US, France, Spain, and England, as well as in Germany and Austria. He also made appearances at international festivals such as the Bregenz Festival, the Bayreuth Festival, and the Salzburg Festival, as well as at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

Seiffert also enjoyed a successful career as an international concert soloist and recording artist. His extensive discography includes Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony ” with Riccardo Muti and Wolfgang Sawallisch, Liszt’s “Faust Symphony” with Simon Rattle, Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” and “Tannhäuser,” as well as various recitals.

Seiffert was the recipient of several prestigious awards, including Echo Klassik’s “Singer of the Year 1989” and a Grammy Award in the category Best Opera Recording for the “Tannhäuser” interpretation conducted by Daniel Barenboim in 2002. He was also appointed as the Bavarian Kammersänger, Austrian Kammersänger, and Berlin Kammersänger.

In 1986, Seiffert married soprano Lucia Popp (1939–93). After Popp’s death, he went on to marry soprano Petra-Maria Schnitzer.

Seiffert passed away near Salzburg after a long illness.