(Credit: Georg Zeppenfeld)

The Wiener Staatsoper has announced that bass René Pape will not be appearing in the role of Gurnemanz in the run of Wagner’s “Parsifal.”

As a result, German bass Georg Zeppenfeld will take over the role. Zeppenfeld joins a cast that includes Wolfgang Koch, Anja Kampe, Nikolay Sidorenko, Artyom Wasnetsov, Carlos Osuna, Erik Van Heyningen, Patricia Nolz, Stephanie Maitland, Daniel Jenz, Angelo Pollak, Ileana Tonca, Anna Nekhames, Aurora Marthens, Slávka Zámečníková, Joanna Kędzior, Isabel Signoret, and Brandon Jovanovich in the title role. Philippe Jordan conducts a production by Kirill Serebrennikov.

Zeppenfeld is a well-known bass that has performed at the Metropolitan Opera House, Teatro alla Scala, Semperoper Dresden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Grand-Théâtre de Geneve, and Deutsche Oper Berlin, among many others.

The run of “Parsifal” begins on Dec. 15 and is set to last through Dec. 26, 2021.