René Pape was born in 1964 in Dresden, then part of East Germany, and trained as a chorister with the Dresdner Kreuzchor from 1974 to 1981 before studying at the Dresden Conservatory. He debuted at the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden in 1988 and achieved international recognition in 1991 when Sir Georg Solti cast him as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte; he has been a regular fixture at the Metropolitan Opera since his 1994 debut there.

Pape is regarded as one of the leading operatic basses of his generation, winning two Grammy Awards (for Die Meistersinger in 1997 and Tannhäuser in 2002) and being named Musical America’s Vocalist of the Year in 2002. He holds the Austrian Kammersänger title, took on the role of Wotan in Wagner’s Ring cycle in 2011, and appeared as Sarastro in Kenneth Branagh’s 2006 film of The Magic Flute.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Pape