Stephen Gould, the American Heldentenor, has died. He was 61.

His death was announced by the The Bayreuth Festival earlier this week just two weeks after Gould himself announced his withdrawal from three Festival roles this summer, revealing that he was suffering from inoperable bile-duct cancer.

In that statement, Gould said he had an “outlook of several months to 10 months”. His death in a matter of days came as a shock to many.

Stephen Gould (1962–2023)

Gould made his Bayreuth debut in 2004 and sang more than 100 performances there, including as Tannhäuser, Siegfried, and Tristan. He sang all three in one year (2022). Not for nothing was he nicknamed “Iron Man”.

Gould also appeared at leading opera houses worldwide. His repertoire included, besides more Wagner roles, Paul in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, the title role of Britten’s Peter Grimes, Verdi’s Otello, and the title role of William Bolkom’s McTeague. In concert he performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder, and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde.

Gould was born in Roanoke, Virginia, on January 24, 1962, the son of a Baptist minister and a pianist. Gould studied, first...