Siegfried Jerusalem

Trained in Essen as a bassoonist, Siegfried Jerusalem studied to become a singer and quickly worked his way through lyric roles into dramatic and, eventually, heroic parts. He grew into the heaviest Wagner protagonist just as the situation was becoming desperate; the shortage of viable singers for these daunting roles was compromising the ability of the world's major opera houses to mount the works of the essential Wagner canon. Handsome, slender, youthful in appearance, and a highly credible actor, Jerusalem filled the need with a voice that was firm and true, if somewhat dry...