Dale Duesing made his Seattle Opera debut in 1984's Tannhäuser. The lyric baritone would go on to sing Don Giovanni, Werther, Figaro, Marcello, Papageno, Eisenstein, Valentin, Eugene Onegin, Guglielmo, Jonathan Wade, and Horace Tabor for the company.

For the company's only production of Wagner's "Battle of Song at Wartburg Castle," new General Director Speight Jenkins brought supertitles to Seattle Opera for the first time. The production also featured the Seattle Opera debut of Hermann Michael, the conductor. Here Duesing sings a bit of Wolfram’s “O du mein holder Abendstern,” asking the evening star to shine gently on the lady of his heart and bear her his love.