Robert Hale (bass-baritone)
He then shifted to more difficult roles, performing the title role of Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer first in 1978 at the Opernhaus Wuppertal, Germany. After his success there, people wanted him to perform the role at leading opera houses in Europe and the United States. He went further and tackled the role of Wotan in Wagner's Ring cycle, which he first performed in Wiesbaden in 1984, then at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1986. It became his signature role, performed and recorded worldwide, and he regarded the Berlin company as his artistic home for almost two decades. He died on August 23, 2023, a day after his 85th birthday.