René Pape, a native of Dresden, studied music in his home city and became a member of the Dresden Kreuzchor until 1981. He made his debut in 1988 at the Staatsoper in Berlin where he interpreted famous roles including Ramfis (
Aida) and Sarastro (
Die Zauberflöte). In 1991 he made his debut at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in Die Zauberflöte conducted by Sir Georg Solti. In 1992 he sang Filippo in
Don Carlos in Basel, for the occasion of the EXPO in Seville and he made his first appearance in the Metropolitan in New York where he is often a guest, interpreting various roles.
In 1996 he was engaged in the Staatsoper in Vienna to sing in
Die Walküre conducted by Daniel Barenboim; the following year he performed in Palestrina by Pfitzner and Lohengrin at the Royal Opera House in London.
In 1999 he sang in the
Nozze di Figaro and in
Don Giovanni conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Subsequently he was engaged in
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Wagner at the Lyric Opera in Chicago, a part he interpreted once again in 2001 at the Opera in San Francisco. In the same year he went on a Japanese tour with the Metropolitan to sing in
Verdi's Requiem conducted by James Levine and he performed it once again the following year in the Staatsoper in Berlin conducted by Daniel Barenboim. In the summer of 2002 he participated in the Orange Festival and at the Glyndebourne Festival in a new production of
Tristan und Isolde.
René Pape participated at the Beyreuth Festival in
Das Rheingold and at the Salzburg Festival in
Fidelio,
Don Carlo conducted by Lorin Maazel and
Don Giovanni conducted by Valerij Gergiev.
In 2003 he will sing for the first time in the Arena di Verona in the role of Escamillo in
Carmen.
August 2003