After training as a bassoonist, he embarked on an international career as a singer. In 1977, he made his first appearance at the Bayreuth Festival and has since regularly performed at the Wagnerian festival. In 1980, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where in 1990 he achieved great success by portraying the roles of Loge and Siegfried in the televised broadcast of Wagner's Ring Cycle. In 1993, he sang Tristan (Tristan und Isolde) at the opening of the Bayreuth Festival, opening doors to major theaters and auditoriums worldwide.
In 1997, he was honored with the "Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse" by the Federal President of Germany, Roman Herzog.
Among his recent engagements, he has performed roles such as Aegisth (Elektra) in New York, London, the Verbier Festival, Naples, Berlin, and San Sebastian with Westdeutscher Rundfunk; Herodes (Salome) in Hamburg, Valencia, Tokyo, New York, and Rome, among others.
He made his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in the 1983/84 season with Die Fledermaus and has returned for Die Walküre (1984/85), Lohengrin (1985/86), and Der Freischütz (1987/88).