René Pape

René Pape

"René Pape’s bass showed considerable velvet sheen and elegant dynamic play; purely as singing and star presence, he impressed." Born in Dresden, Black Diamond Bass Rene 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 every season 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 DieMeistersinger; 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. Pape’s first CD of solo arias, Gods, Kings & Demons, was released in 2008 on Deutsche Grammophon with his hometown orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Sebastian Weigle. The disc won a coveted “ECHO” award, the German equivalent of a Grammy. Pape performs regularly in major opera houses, concert halls, and symphony orchestras around the world, as well as opera festivals such as Bayreuth, Glyndebourne, Lucerne, Orange, Saint-Petersburg, Salzburg, Verbier and White Nights. He currently resides in Austria and Berlin.

  • Title: René Pape
  • Popularity: 1.671
  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 1964-09-04
  • Place of Birth: Dresden, Germany
  • Homepage: http://www.renepape.com/
  • Also Known As: The Black Diamond Bass
img

René Pape Movies

  • 2011
    imgMovies

    Faust (The Royal Opera House)

    Faust (The Royal Opera House)

    10 2011 HD

    img
  • 2021
    imgMovies

    Metropolitan Opera: Boris Godunov

    Metropolitan Opera: Boris Godunov

    9 2021 HD

    Bass René Pape, the world’s reigning Boris, reprises his overwhelming portrayal of the tortured tsar caught between grasping ambition...

    img
  • 2021
    imgMovies

    The Metropolitan Opera: Boris Godunov

    The Metropolitan Opera: Boris Godunov

    1 2021 HD

    Bass René Pape, the world’s reigning Boris, reprises his overwhelming portrayal of the tortured tsar caught between grasping ambition...

    img
  • 2006
    imgMovies

    The Magic Flute

    The Magic Flute

    6.3 2006 HD

    During World War I, in an unnamed country, a soldier named Tamino is sent by the Queen of the Night to rescue her daughter Pamina from the clutches...

    img
  • 1998
    imgMovies

    Samson et Dalila

    Samson et Dalila

    1 1998 HD

    Elijah Moshinsky's production of Saint-Saëns's "Samson et Dalila", recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera 28 September 1998. Plácido...

    img
  • 2010
    imgMovies

    Strauss R: Elektra

    Strauss R: Elektra

    10 2010 HD

    The Nikolaus Lehnhoff production of Richard Strauss's "Elektra", recorded live at the Salzburger Festspiele in 2010. Iréne Theorin stars as...

    img
  • 2011
    imgMovies

    Salzburg Festival Opening Concert

    Salzburg Festival Opening Concert

    1 2011 HD

    This recording features the opening concert of the Salzburg Festival in 2010, in which the Festival celebrated its 90th anniversary and the 50th...

    img
  • 2012
    imgMovies

    Lohengrin: Opera romantica in tre atti

    Lohengrin: Opera romantica in tre atti

    1 2012 HD

    The people of the Duchy of Brabant are divided by quarrels and political infighting; also, a devious hostile power left over from the region's pagan...

    img
  • 2003
    imgMovies

    Ludwig van Beethoven: Fidelio

    Ludwig van Beethoven: Fidelio

    10 2003 HD

    Two years prior to the opening scene, the nobleman Florestan has exposed or attempted to expose certain crimes of the nobleman Pizarro. In revenge,...

    img
  • 2017
    imgMovies

    The Metropolitan Opera: Die Zauberflöte

    The Metropolitan Opera: Die Zauberflöte

    1 2017 HD

    Met Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts Tony Award winner Julie Taymor’s production of Mozart’s masterpiece, Die...

    img
  • 2014
    imgMovies

    The Metropolitan Opera: Macbeth

    The Metropolitan Opera: Macbeth

    1 2014 HD

    The Met Opera’s broadcast of Verdi’s Macbeth will be presented live in select cinemas nationwide on Saturday, October 11 at 12:55 p.m. ET...

    img
  • 2006
    imgMovies

    The Magic Flute

    The Magic Flute

    6.5 2006 HD

    The Queen of the Night enlists a handsome prince named Tamino to rescue her beautiful kidnapped daughter, Princess Pamina. Aided by the lovelorn bird...

    img
  • 2017
    imgMovies

    Schumann - Scenes from Goethe's Faust

    Schumann - Scenes from Goethe's Faust

    1 2017 HD

    The Berlin State Opera is back at its place of origin: Unter den Linden! After extensive renovations, it was reopened with Schumann's scenes from...

    img
  • 2022
    imgMovies

    Giacomo Puccini: Turandot

    Giacomo Puccini: Turandot

    1 2022 HD

    img
  • 2014
    imgMovies

    Macbeth

    Macbeth

    1 2014 HD

    Star soprano Anna Netrebko created a sensation with her riveting performance as the malevolent Lady Macbeth, the central character in Verdi’s...

    img
  • 2013
    imgMovies

    Solti Centenary Concert

    Solti Centenary Concert

    1 2013 HD

    Solti’s 100th birthday on October 21, 2012, featuring the World Orchestra for Peace. This unique ensemble owes its existence to the vision of...

    img
  • 2000
    imgMovies

    Beethoven: Fidelio

    Beethoven: Fidelio

    10 2000 HD

    img
  • 2013
    imgMovies

    Parsifal

    Parsifal

    8 2013 HD

    The Met assembled an ideal cast for François Girard’s acclaimed new production of Wagner’s final masterpiece: Jonas Kaufmann in...

    img
  • 2010
    imgMovies

    Hunter's Bride

    Hunter's Bride

    6 2010 HD

    Inspired by Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz, the film opera Hunter's Bride traces the romantic rivalry between two veterans of the...

    img
  • 2001
    imgMovies

    Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg

    Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg

    10 2001 HD

    James Morris leads an all-star cast including Karita Mattila, Ben Heppner, Thomas Allen and René Pape, in this production of Wagner's comic...

    img
  • 2013
    imgMovies

    Verdi: Requiem

    Verdi: Requiem

    9 2013 HD

    This is an exhilarating experience both visually and aurally. How wonderful that Barenboim is havng such success with Verdi this late in his...

    img
  • 2016
    imgMovies

    The Metropolitan Opera: Tristan und Isolde

    The Metropolitan Opera: Tristan und Isolde

    9.5 2016 HD

    Met audiences were fascinated by Mariusz Treliński’s gripping, visionary production of Wagner’s epic opera. In the daunting title roles...

    img
  • 2010
    imgMovies

    The Metropolitan Opera: Boris Godunov

    The Metropolitan Opera: Boris Godunov

    1 2010 HD

    Stephen Wadsworth’s production of Mussorgsky’s epic masterpiece brilliantly captures the suffering and ambition of the Russian people at...

    img
  • 2011
    imgMovies

    Gounod: Faust

    Gounod: Faust

    1 2011 HD

    Tenor Jonas Kaufmann is riveting as the title character of Gounod’s popular opera, seen in this Live in HD presentation of Des McAnuff’s...

    img
  • 2006
    imgMovies

    The Magic Flute

    The Magic Flute

    8 2006 HD

    Tamino, a handsome prince, and Papageno, a bird-catcher, are sent by the Queen of Night to rescue her daughter Pamina from captivity under the high...

    img
  • 2008
    imgMovies

    Wagner: Tristan und Isolde

    Wagner: Tristan und Isolde

    1 2008 HD

    Glyndebourne's celebrated production of Nikolaus Lehnhoff's Tristan und Isolde is a supremely intelligent achievement; gravely beautiful, haunting...

    img
  • 2013
    imgMovies

    Wagner : Parsifal

    Wagner : Parsifal

    1 2013 HD

    A young man ignorant of everything, including his own name, arrives at the Kingdom of the Holy Grail. Is he the ‘pure fool, enlightened by...

    img
  • 2018
    imgMovies

    Wagner: Tristan und Isolde

    Wagner: Tristan und Isolde

    1 2018 HD

    Motivated by the love that bound him to Mathilda Wesendonck, Richard Wagner’s composition of Tristan und Isolde goes far beyond any simple...

    img
  • 1999
    imgMovies

    Le nozze di Figaro

    Le nozze di Figaro

    1 1999 HD

    img
  • 2019
    imgMovies

    Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (Salzburg Festival)

    Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (Salzburg Festival)

    1 2019 HD

    Power struggles among rival families in 14th-century Genoa, a story of tragic love, a young girl gone missing… Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra...

    img
  • 1991
    imgMovies

    Mozart Requiem

    Mozart Requiem

    1 1991 HD

    You will find this Requiem the finest on video. It certainly outshines Bohm's dated approach, and Bernstein's lethargically slow performance. (No...

    img
  • 2016
    imgMovies

    Mefistofele

    Mefistofele

    1 2016 HD

    The director, Roland Schwab, has created his version of Hell. The set is like a high iron walled hanger and the stage is continually occupied with...

    img
  • 2013
    imgMovies

    Wagner: Das Rheingold

    Wagner: Das Rheingold

    1 2013 HD

    The La Scala Rheingold in May 2010 inaugurated Guy Cassiers Ring-Cycle and introduces a completely new paradigm to this work. While before him...

    img
  • 2017
    imgMovies

    The Metropolitan Opera: The Magic Flute

    The Metropolitan Opera: The Magic Flute

    1 2017 HD

    Julie Taymor’s kaleidoscopic production returns to select cinemas this holiday season in an encore presentation of the company’s...

    img
  • 2014
    imgMovies

    Tannhäuser

    Tannhäuser

    1 2014 HD

    A brand new production of ‘’Tannhäuser’’ at the Staatsoper Berlin conducted by Daniel Barenboim, staged and...

    img
  • 2020
    imgMovies

    Metropolitan Opera At Home Gala

    Metropolitan Opera At Home Gala

    9 2020 HD

    In its most ambitious effort yet to bring the joy and artistry of opera to audiences everywhere during the Met’s closure, the company presented...

    img
  • 1999
    imgMovies

    Tristan und Isolde

    Tristan und Isolde

    10 1999 HD

    Inspired by Wagner’s own tortured affair with the wife of his patron, this searing masterwork is based on Arthurian legend and tells of an...

    img
  • 2013
    imgMovies

    Mozart Requiem - Claudio Abbado & Lucerne Festival Orchestra

    Mozart Requiem - Claudio Abbado & Lucerne Festival Orchestra

    1 2013 HD

    Mozart did not write the Requiem as despairing funeral music for his impending death. Rather, the piece proclaims eternal light and redemption....

    img
  • 2013
    imgMovies

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Requiem - Claudio Abbado

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Requiem - Claudio Abbado

    9 2013 HD

    Mozart did not write the Requiem as despairing funeral music for his impending death. Rather, the piece proclaims eternal light and redemption....

    img
  • 2015
    imgMovies

    Verdi: Macbeth

    Verdi: Macbeth

    10 2015 HD

    Star soprano Anna Netrebko created a sensation in her first Met performances as the malevolent Lady Macbeth, the central character in Verdi’s...

    img
  • 2021
    imgMovies

    Die Zauberflöte aus der Semperoper Dresden

    Die Zauberflöte aus der Semperoper Dresden

    1 2021 HD

    img
  • 2016
    imgMovies

    Parsifal

    Parsifal

    1 2016 HD

    Wagner’s mystic masterpiece Parsifal at the Staatsoper Berlin, staged by Dmitri Tcherniakov and conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Wagner’s...

    img
  • 2020
    imgMovies

    Lohengrin

    Lohengrin

    1 2020 HD

    Spanish opera and theater director Calixto Bieito makes his debut with this grand romantic opera at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, guiding the...

    img
  • 2016
    imgMovies

    Don Carlo

    Don Carlo

    1 2016 HD

    The 2016 Don Carlo production at the Vienna State Opera, directed by Daniele Abbado, offered a modern, minimalist take on Verdi's masterpiece. Abbado...

    img
  • 2025
    imgMovies

    The Metropolitan Opera: Fidelio

    The Metropolitan Opera: Fidelio

    1 2025 HD

    Following a string of awe-inspiring Met performances, soprano Lise Davidsen stars as Leonore, who risks everything to save her husband from the...

    img
  • 2014
    imgS11 E34

    MDR um 4

    MDR um 4

    6.5 2014 HD

    img
  • 1998
    imgS1 E240

    Lebensläufe

    Lebensläufe

    1 1998 HD

    img
  • 1992
    imgS30 E15

    Riverboat

    Riverboat

    5.5 1992 HD

    img
  • 2006
    imgS15 E1

    Semperopernball

    Semperopernball

    1 2006 HD

    img