In the summer of 2022 the American singer Stephen Gould was undertaking not just one but three taxing heldentenor roles at the Bayreuth festival: Tannhäuser, Tristan and Siegfried (in Götterdämmerung) with characteristic dependability. Invited back to the festival the following year, he had just entered the rehearsal period when he had to withdraw on health grounds. A fortnight after announcing his diagnosis, he has died aged 61 of bile duct cancer.
Gould was renowned for his apparent tirelessness on stage: however demanding the role he always seemed to have fuel to spare in the tank. But no less remarkable was the fact that he made his effective operatic debut (discounting a brief spell with the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Centre for American Artists) as late as 2000, in his late 30s.
