German Heldentenor, Stefan Vinke, graduated as a church musician at the Cologne College of Music before beginning his professional singing career in Karlsruhe and Krefeld / Mönchengladbach. In 1999 he was awarded the position of ‘Young Heroic Tenor’ at the Nationaltheater Mannheim where in 2000 he was voted ‘Male Newcomer of the Year’ by Opernwelt magazine.
Most recent and future plans include Siegmund in Walküre at Greek National Opera, his return to Opera Australia for the new production of the Ring Cycle at Brisbane, Siegfried at Atlanta Opera and Stuttgart Staatsoper, as well as a return to the Müpa in Budapest as Siegfried in the Ring Cycle, the title roles of Tristan und Isolde for Seattle Opera, Tannhäuser for the Royal Opera House and Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, among others. On the concert platform he joins Benjamin Zander and the Boston Philharmonic for a performance of Das Lied von der Erde, and sings the title role of Tannhäuser in a concert performance for Opera Australia..
Globally renowned as an interpreter of Wagner’s great tenor roles, he has sung the title roles of Tristan, Siegfried, Tannhäuser, Parsifal, Lohengrin and Rienzi, also Siegmund in Die Walküre, Siegfried in Götterdämmerung, Erik Der Fliegende Holländer, and Walther von Stolzing Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Stefan Vinke was Tristan in two productions, Siegfried (Siegfried and Götterdämmerung) and Walther von Stolzing at the Bayreuth Festival.
His numerous Ring cycle appearances include the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Sir Antonio Pappano, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Salzburg- and Bayreuth festival and Bayerische Staatsoper under Kiril Petrenko, Barcelona, Venice, Köln, Bukarest, Budapest, Melbourne…
He has also sung the title role of Idomeneo, Florestan Fidelio, Bacchus Ariadne, Menelas Die Ägytische Helena, Paul Die tote Stadt, Alviano Die Gezeichneten, and Jim Mahony Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny in the theatres of Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Munich, Paris, Montpellier, Lisbon, Barcelona, Venice, Madrid, Sydney, Bejing, Geneva, Chicago, Seattle, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and at the Salzburg Festival.
Seattle Opera, Tristan, 15. October 2022
„Much as in his winning portrayal of Siegfried, Stefan Vinke brings to Tristan an indefatigable heldentenor of sturdy, muscular brilliance and a physical intensity that allowed him to fearlessly traverse this complex character´s broad emotional compass…his voice opened up and excelled as the line rose higher, inhabiting his impassioned and delirious lines in Acts 2 and 3 with a fullness and abandon that eludes most artists in this repertory. Indeed, Vinke´s gifts transformed the opera´s third act into its musical and dramatic apex, here portrayed as something akin to a mad scene for heldentenor.“
Christian Ocier, Parterre Box, 17 October 2022
„Stefan Vinke, a seasoned Wagnerian who made his Seattle debut in the 2013 „Ring“, is an authoritative Tristan; he sang with powerful energy and stamina even in the ultimate challenge of Act III. His final scene, as Tristan subsides in death after recognizing Isolde, was deeply affecting, capped by Williams´ radiant „Liebestod“.
Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times, 17. October 2022
„Meanwhile, Vinke (Siegfried in Seattle Operas Ring, in 2013) and his rich, mellow tenor, sounded best in his most taxing music, the long monologue in Act three, wich allowed him to fully let loose.“
Gavin Borchert, Opera Wire, 17. October 2022
„As Tristan, Stefan Vinke displayed the clarion steel of a Wagnerian heldentenor…It was in his final scene that Vinke rose to the occasion. His delirium seemed real, and his highs cut through the air with determination and fortitude.“
Jason Victor Serinus, Classical Voice North America, 17. October 2022
Bayreuth Festival, Tristan, 22. August 2019
„Stefan Vinke proved an ideal partner for Lang and sounded note perfect…Vinke clearly knows the role inside out and, more importantly, he lived the part. Creating a character seemed as important for him as his singing and his crazed delusional outpourings in Act III were gripping. He reminded me – more than some – of René Kollo singing his last Tristan for Christian Thielemann at the Deutsche Oper in 2000 and who was at the very edge of what was vocally possible…“
Jim Pritchard, Seen and Heard International, 22. August 2019
