On Sept. 12, 2026 Bass-Baritone Hartmut Welker died at the age of 84.

On Oct. 27, 1941, Welker was born in Velbert and before he decided to study singing, he learned and practiced the profession as a toolmaker.

At the age of 28, he began studying singing at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and made his stage debut in 1974 at the Theater Aachen in the role of Monterone in Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” stepping in for an ill singer. He went on to be engaged by the Theater Aachen from 1975 to 1977, where he performed small solo parts.

His official debut with Aachen was in 1977 as Renato in Verdi’s “Un ballo in maschera” and worked there until 1980. From there he went on to perform at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Metropolitan Opera in New York City, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Opéra Bastille in Paris, the Vienna State Opera, Berlin State Opera and Hamburg State Opera, as well as the Bayreuth Festival, the Salzburg Festival, the Bregenz Festival and the Edinburgh Festival.

In 1982, he became a member of the Hamburgische Staatsoper and later joined the Wiener Staatsoper 1985 and the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 1987. With the Bayreuth festival, he performed from 2000 to 2006 in such roles as Klingsor, Wotan, Alberich, Telramund, and Kurwenal.