Robert Dean Smith

Since his spectacular début at the Richard Wagner Bayreuth Festival 1997 as Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger, Robert Dean Smith is sought-after by the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls. An acclaimed interpreter of dramatic and Heldentenor roles, he has appeared in theatres and concert halls around the world with distinguished conductors such as, Mehta, Pappano, Thielemann, Muti, Barenboim, Levine, Sawallisch, Maazel, Boulez, von Dohnányi, Haitink, Chailly and Gatti.

At Bayreuth, he has sung the title role of Tristan und Isolde, Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger, the title role of Lohengrin, and Siegmund in Die Walküre. He has performed with the Bavarian State Opera Munich (Meistersinger, Fidelio, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Freischütz, Queen of Spades), the Vienna State Opera (Tristan, Manon Lescaut, Meistersinger), New York Metropolitan Opera (Tristan), La Scala Milan (Lohengrin, Fidelio), Staatsoper Berlin (Tannhäuser), Deutsche Oper Berlin (Meistersinger, Fidelio, Lohengrin, Parsifal), Dresden State Opera (Meistersinger, Carmen, Lohengrin), Covent Garden London (Meistersinger, Lohengrin, Ariadne auf Naxos, Katja Kabanova), Theatre du Capitole Toulouse (Andrea Chénier, Frau ohne Schatten), New National Theatre Tokyo (La forza del destino, Walküre), Los Angeles Opera (Frau ohne Schatten), San Francisco Opera (Meistersinger), Teatro Real Madrid (Tristan, Parsifal, Frau ohne Schatten), Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona (Parsifal, Ariadne auf Naxos), Hamburg State Opera (Queen of Spades), Maggio Musicale Florence (Meistersinger) and the Amsterdam Musiktheater (Meistersinger).

He has performed in concert with the Bayerische Rundfunkorchester (Das Lied von der Erde by Mahler), Bayerisches Staatsorchester Munich (Das Lied von der Erde), Royal Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam (Das Lied von der Erde, Kodaly's Psalmus Hungaricus, Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex), the Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig (Beethoven Symphony No. 9), the London Symphony Orchestra (The Dream of Gerontius by Elgar), the Philadelphia Orchestra (Missa Solemnis by Beethoven), the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Rome (Dvořák Requiem, Walküre Act 1), the Staatskapella Berlin (Mahler's Symphony No. 8), Orchestre de Paris (Beethoven Symphony No. 9, concert version of Fidelio), Los Angeles Philharmonic (Beethoven Symphony No. 9), Vienna Symphony (Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Dvořák Stabat Mater), London Philharmonic Orchestra (Tristan Act 2), Hamburg Symphoniker (Opera Gala), Symphonica Toscanini (Beethoven Symphony No. 9), Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin (Beethoven’s Christus am Ölberge), the SWR Radio Orchestra (Gurre-Lieder by Schönberg), Monte-Carlo Orchestre Philharmonique (concert version of Parsifal), and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (concert version of Lohengrin).

Robert Dean Smith had the special honor of singing the tenor solo in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for the 125th anniversary of the Bayreuth Festival in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus with the Festival Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Christian Thielemann. His CD recording on Arte Nova of Wagner scenes has been awarded the Orphée d’or by the Académie du Disque Lyrique.

Born and raised in Chetopa, Kansas, USA, he has both the American and Swiss citizenships. He studied at Pittsburg (Kansas) State University with Margaret Thuenemann, at the Juilliard School in New York City with Daniel Ferro, and with Professor Janice Harper in Europe. Like many dramatic tenors, he began his career as a baritone and sang for several years in German opera houses before he changed to tenor.