The musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker are saddened by the passing of José van Dam. The Belgian bass-baritone died on 17 February 2026 at the age of 85. With his warm, supple and expressive voice, van Dam was one of Herbert von Karajan’s favourite singers. He made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1971 during the Salzburg Easter Festival under Karajan’s direction as Don Fernando in Beethoven’s Fidelio. He returned regularly to the festival, where he impressed not only with his vocal mastery but also with his powerful stage presence. He appeared in Karajan’s productions of Verdi’s Il trovatore and Don Carlos, Wagner’s Parsifal and Der fliegende Holländer, and Bizet’s Carmen. In 1993, he sang the title role in Verdi’s Falstaff under Sir Georg Solti. His signature role was Golaud in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, which he performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Simon Rattle in 2006.
José van Dam also had close ties to the Berliner Philharmoniker as a concert singer – for example, as a soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Missa solemnis, in the requiems of Mozart, Brahms and Verdi, in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B minor and in Bruckner’s Te Deum. He last appeared on stage with the orchestra in 2013 at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden as the Speaker in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.