Peter Seiffert

Tenor Peter Seiffert had a long career in Wagnerian opera and often recorded concert works. He was a permanent ensemble member of the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and performed internationally, including a long association with the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. His repertory included Italian and French roles as well as German opera. Seiffert's recording career extended into the 21st century and included a 2013 version of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, released in 2022. Seiffert was born in Düsseldorf, West Germany, on January 4, 1954. His father was an opera singer and pop songwriter. Seiffert grew up as a member of the Düsseldorfer Knabenchor boys' choir and was often chosen as a soloist. He attended the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf. Seiffert also took physical therapy courses but committed to a musical career, making his debut with Düsseldorf's Deutsche Oper am Rhein in 1978 in Aribert Reimann's opera Lear. He became a member of the company's ensemble for two years and took second prize in the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb competition in 1979. In 1980, he joined the permanent ensemble of the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, remaining there until his retirement in 2019, at which time he was named an honorary member. Seiffert made his recording debut in 1986 in a production of Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus in which the star was Slovak soprano Lucia Popp; Seiffert and Popp married that year, and the marriage lasted until Popp's death in 1993. After various other operatic recordings, Seiffert released his solo debut, Italienische Opernarien, on the EMI label in 1996. Seiffert's career progressed, with guidance from director Götz Friedrich and conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch, from Mozartian roles to the lighter ones in Wagner, including a breakthrough performance as Lohengrin in Berlin in 1990. To heavier Wagner roles, such as the lead in Tristan und Isolde, he brought a lyrical Italian quality that was often noted as distinctive. Seiffert's repertory was centered on German opera and included Weber and Richard Strauss as well as Wagner, but he sang many roles in other traditions, including in Gounod's Faust and Verdi's Otello; in Berlin, his repertory included 26 roles. He was heard at top international houses such as the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden in London, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, and he appeared for several years at the Bayreuth Festival. Seiffert had a substantial recording catalog that included a Grammy-winning 2003 version of Wagner's Tannhäuser. The following year, with his second wife, Petra-Maria Schnitzer, he released the album Clara & Robert Schumann: Lieder & Duette. Seiffert remained active into the 2010s but was sidelined by a long illness and died in Schleedorf, Austria, on April 14, 2025. ~ James Manheim, Rovi