Manfred Jung
German heldentenor Manfred Jung was born in Oberhausen on 9 July 1940. Initially embarking on a career in engineering, he studied singing with Hilde Wesselmann whilst working in Essen, passing his state exams in 1968.
He took engagements at the Cologne Chamber Opera, Dortmund Music Theatre (from 1971-5) and then at the theatre in Kaiserlautern. In 1975 he made his first guest appearances at the Salzburg Easter Festival with Karajan, and in Jerusalem.
Following a 1976 guest appearance at Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf / Duisburg, he was given a contract until 1988, and in Berlin the same year, following a guest appearance, he was recommended to the Bayreuth Festival and sang Siegfried in Götterdämmerung there in 1977, winning an award from Orpheus magazine.
In 1980 he began to sing Wagner internationally - first at Carnegie Hall, then, in 1981, at Vienna State Opera and New York Metropolitan Opera. The following year he won a Grammy Award for the Bayreuth Ring conducted by Pierre Boulez - as Siegfried in Siegfried and in Götterdämmerung.
He since became well-known as a Wagner tenor, and as one of the few who had sung all the tenor parts in Wagner's Ring.
Manfred Jung died in Essen on 14 April 2017, aged seventy-six.