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discipline = "Bass"
primary_image = "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1587928477/media/2020/04/RenePape-JiyangChen_owkgap.jpg"
primary_image_credit = "Jiyang Chen"
related_companies = ["scene/companies/opra-national-de-paris.md", "scene/companies/staatsoper-berlin.md", "scene/companies/wiener-staatsoper.md", "scene/companies/bayerische-staatsoper.md", "scene/companies/the-metropolitan-opera.md"]
slug = "rene-pape"
title = "René Pape"
website = "https://renepape.com/"
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platform = "Facebook"
template = "social-media"
url = "https://www.facebook.com/RenePapeOfficial/"
[[social_media]]
platform = "Twitter"
template = "social-media"
url = "https://twitter.com/renepapebass"
[[social_media]]
platform = "Instagram"
template = "social-media"
url = "https://www.instagram.com/renepapebass/"

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Born in Dresden, Pape has been a member of the Berlin State Opera since 1988, but considers New York’s Metropolitan Opera his operatic “home away from home.” Since his house debut in 1995, he has appeared at the Met in 18 roles and more than 160 performances, including four major debuts: Méphistophélès in _Faust_, Gurnemanz in _Parsifal_, Escamillo in _Carmen_, and the Old Hebrew in _Samson et Dalila_. But it was at the famous Unter den Linden – home of the Berlin State Opera – where Pape honed most of the great roles of his career.

Music Director Daniel Barenboim was an early supporter, and the Berlin State Opera has played host to Pape’s performances as King Marke in _Tristan und Isolde_; King Heinrich in _Lohengrin_; Sarastro in Mozart’s _Die Zauberflöte_; Pogner in _Die Meistersinger_; Rocco in Beethoven’s _Fidelio_; Fasolt in _Das Rheingold_; Hunding in _Die Walküre_; and the title role in _Don Giovanni_. The opera house was also the venue for Pape’s appearances as Ramfis in Verdi’s _Aida_; Figaro in Mozart’s _Le nozze di Figaro_; Leporello in _Don Giovanni_; and Orest in Strauss’s _Elektra_. In 2006 he expanded his repertoire to include the title role in _Boris Godunov_, which won him the title “Artist of the Year” from the German Critics Association.

Mr. Pape’s 2019/20 season highlights include _Don Carlo_ and _Parsifal_ at the Wiener Staatsoper; _Don Carlo_ and _Boris Godounov_ for Opéra national de Paris, _Tristan und Isolde_ at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden, _Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor_, _Die Zauberflöte_, the New Year’s Concert Galas singing Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 at the Staatsoper Berlin.

He also sings two Lieder recitals with pianist Camillo Radicke: at Graz’s Musikverein and at the Wiener Staatsoper, where he will also perform at the Europäische Kulturpreis Pro Europa.

His 2018/19 season included _Tristan und Isolde_ at the Opéra Bastille, _Elektra_, _Die Zauberflöte_ and _Parsifal_ at the Wiener Staatsoper, _Fidelio_, _Elektra_, _Die Zauberflöte_, _Macbeth_ and _Tristan und Isolde_ at the Staatsoper Berlin, a new production of _T.H.A.M.O.S._ in Salzburg and _Parsifal_ at the Bavarian State Opera.

In recent seasons, Pape has also starred in the title role of Mussorgsky’s _Boris Godunov_, and has increased his recital activities around the world. Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times praised Pape’s role debut as Boris at the Metropolitan Opera: “With his towering physique and unforced charisma, Mr. Pape looks regal and imposing. Yet with his vacant stare, the haggard intensity in his face, his stringy long hair and his hulking gait, he is already bent over with guilt and doubt. Mr. Pape has vocal charisma as well, and his dark, penetrating voice is ideal for the role. Not knowing Russian, I cannot vouch for the idiomatic quality of his singing. But his enunciation was crisp and natural. And in every language, Mr. Pape makes words matter.”

Of his Wigmore Hall recital in 2018, Peter Reed from Classical source stated “Pape has the gift of reeling you in with his focus and stillness, and gestures such as one warning finger (in the Mozart) or both arms expansively raised in just one of his Sibelius set were more or less it in terms of dramatic emphasis. It was all down to the authority and intensity of his singing that leaves you with the impression that his voice is inexhaustible, with colour, substance, imagination and nuance to spare from pitch-black to a quietness of exceptional delicacy.”