Robert Dean Smith (born 2 May 1956 in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

) is an American

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

. Smith studied at

Pittsburg State University Pittsburg State University (Pitt State or PSU) is a public university in Pittsburg, Kansas, United States. It enrolls approximately 7,400 students (6,000 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students) and is a member of the Kansas Board of Regen ...

(Kansas), at the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named afte ...

in New York City with Daniel Ferro, and in Europe. Like many

dramatic tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below midd ...

s, he began his career as a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

and sang for several years in German opera houses. He sings a variety of opera and concert repertoire, in different languages and styles. From 2007 to 2008 he performed ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wo ...

'' and ''

Die Meistersinger Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

'' in Dresden; ''

Die Frau ohne Schatten ' (''The Woman without a Shadow''), Op. 65, is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was written between 1911 and either 1915 or 1917. When it premiered at the V ...

'' at the

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox (Chicago opera), Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, w ...

with Deborah Voigt and Christine Brewer; ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...

'' at the Madrid Teatro Real and the Bayreuth Festival; ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265. His name ...

'' at the Berlin Staatsoper; ''

Der fliegende Holländer ' (''The Flying Dutchman''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 63, is a German-language opera, with libretto and music by Richard Wagner. The central theme is redemption through love. Wagner Conducting, conducted the premiere at the Königliches Hofthe ...

'' at the

Bavarian State Opera The Bavarian State Opera () is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bavarian State Orchestra. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under El ...

(Bayerische Staatsoper) in Munich and the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

; ''

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...

'' at the

Royal Opera, London The Royal Opera is a British opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Along with English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent G ...

at Covent Garden; and ''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of ...

'' in Tokyo. On March 22, 2008, Smith made his

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

debut as the lead role in ''

'' — which was broadcast in the Met's '' Live in HD'' series in cinemas in the US, and also aired live on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

and other radio stations in the US and abroad, as part of the live Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network season. Smith was brought in to replace an ailing Ben Heppner. In January 2015, during the final scene of ''Tristan und Isolde'' with Elisabete Matos at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, a 210 kg fake rock suspended over Smith as the recently dead Tristan began descending. When Smith noticed it was not stopping he rolled away and quickly got to his feet, provoking laughter from the audience. There was a subsequent investigation into “l’affaire du rocher”, concluding with the conviction and eight-month prison sentence of a stagehand for sabotage.

Discography

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

– Das Lied von der Erde.

Vladimir Jurowski Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski (;() born 4 April 1972) is a Russian conducting, conductor resident in Germany. He is the son of conductor Michail Jurowski, and grandson of Soviet film music composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski. Early life B ...

, Sarah Connolly, Robert Dean Smith,

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. In Berlin, the orchestra gives concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin and at the Berliner Philharmonie. The orchestra has al ...

. PENTATONE PTC 5186760 (2020) *

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

– Die Walküre. Tomasz Konieczny, Iris Vermillion, Robert Dean Smith, Timo Riihonen, Petra Lang,

Marek Janowski Marek Janowski (born 18 February 1939 in Warsaw) is a Polish-born German conductor. Biography Janowski grew up in Wuppertal, near Cologne, after his mother traveled there at the start of World War II to be with her parents. His father disappear ...

, Nicole Piccolomini, Kismara Pessatti, Anja Fidelia Ulrich, Fionnuala McCarthy, Heike Wessels, Carola Höhn, Wilke te Brummelstroete, Renate Spingler, Melanie Diener,

. PENTATONE PTC 5186407 (2013) *

– Tannhäuser. Albert Dohmen, Robert Dean Smith, Christian Gerhaher, Peter Sonn, Wilhelm Schwinghammer, Michael McCown, Martin Snel, Nina Stemme, Marina Prudenskaya, Bianca Reim,

, Rundfunkchor Berlin. PENTATONE PTC 5186405 (2013) *

– Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Albert Dohmen, Georg Zeppenfeld, Michael Smallwood, Sebastian Noack, Dietrich Henschel, Tuomas Pursio, Jörg Schörner, Thomas Ebenstein, Thorsten Scharnke, Tobias Berndt, Hans-Peter Scheidegger, Lee Hyung-Wook, Robert Dean Smith, Peter Sonn, Edith Haller, Michelle Breedt, Matti Salminen,

, Rundfunkchor Berlin. PENTATONE PTC 5186402 (2011) *

– Der fliegende Holländer. Matti Salminen, Ricarda Merbeth, Robert Dean Smith, Silvia Hablowetz, Steve Davislim, Albert Dohmen,

. PENTATONE PTC 5186400 (2011)

References

External links

* American operatic tenors Heldentenors Living people 1956 births Singers from Kansas Pittsburg State University alumni Juilliard School alumni {{US-opera-singer-stub