Peter Hofmann

Peter Hofmann (22 August 1944 – 30 November 2010) was a German tenor who had a successful performance career within the fields of opera, rock, pop, and musical theatre. He first rose to prominence as a heldentenor at the Bayreuth festival's Jahrhundertring (Centenary Ring) in 1976, where he drew critical acclaim for his performance of Siegmund in Wagner's Die Walküre. He was active as one of the world's leading Wagnerian tenors over the next decade, performing roles such as Lohengrin, Parsifal, and Tristan at major opera houses and festivals internationally. Hofmann had already spent portions of his opera career performing and recording popular music, and he had already achieved success with tours and recordings of classic rock during the mid to late 1980s. He continued to perform pop and rock songs until his retirement from performance for health reasons in 1999. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1994. Opera career Hofmann made his professional opera debut in 1972 as Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at Theater Lübeck.

Hofmann moved to Bayreuth and spent his time writing his autobiography and supporting research through the Peter Hofmann Parkinson Project.

After battling Parkinson's disease for more than a decade, he died of pneumonia in November 2010 at the age of 66.

Recordings From Bayreuth, Hofmann appeared as Siegmund in the 1980 Die Walküre, alongside Gwyneth Jones as Brünnhilde (Deutsche Grammophon), and in the title role of the 1982 Lohengrin, alonside Karan Armstrong as Elsa conducted by Woldemar Nelsson in Götz Friedrich's production (EuroArts).

In the studio, he made a 1978 recording of Die Zauberflöte conducted by Alain Lombard with Kiri Te Kanawa and Kathleen Battle, then as Florestam in Beethoven's Fidelio, conducted by Georg Solti in 1979, as Parsifal alongside Dunja Vejzovic's Kundry, led by Herbert von Karajan (1979–80), and alongside Waltraud Meier's Kundry, led by James Levine, live in 1985. He appeared in a recording of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice in 1982 and as Erik in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer, with José van Dam in the title role and Vejzovic, conducted by Karajan (1981–83). A 1986 performance as Lohengrin at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Levine, was released on Pioneer Classics in 2000. Hofmann also performed in Leonard Bernstein's live recording of Tristan und Isolde in 1981.