After a compromised Seattle Opera debut in 1984, American bass-baritone and poet Roger Roloff went on to sing the Flying Dutchman, Hans Sachs, Jochanaan, and Wotan in 1985, '86, '87, and '91 at Seattle Opera. (In 1984, Roloff sang Wotan in "Das Rheingold," but was taken ill. Thomas Stewart sang Seattle's "Walküre" and "Siegfried" Wotans that summer.)

Listen to Roloff's sweetly lyrical Wotan in this excerpt from SIEGFRIED, recorded in 1986. The king of the gods explains to Erda why he forces her to rise from deep realms of slumber:

I summoned you, my song freed you
from the bonds of sleep.
I have wandered far
over the earth’s broad back.
I seek out knowledge,
I would become wise.
None is as wise as you; you know what
lies hidden in the deep…
in hills and valleys, in air and water.
Your breath blows wherever there is life,
your wisdom exists
wherever there is thought.
They say all is known to you.
I need your wisdom—
so I rouse you from sleep.

Manuel Rosenthal conducts the orchestra of Seattle Opera.