Wolfgang Schöne studied at the Musikhochschule in Hanover and Hamburg, before embarking on a career as a concert singer. As a member of the Stuttgart State Opera from 1973 to 2005 his rôles included those of Don Giovanni, Wolfram, Amfortas, Renato in Un ballo in maschera, Ford, Eugene Onegin, Orest and Barak, the General in Henze’s We come to the river, Pentheus in Die Bassariden, the Dutchman, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, King Roger, Mamm’Agata in Le convenienze teatrali, the father in Hänsel und Gretel, Dr Schön/Jack the Ripper in Lulu, Lindorf, Coppelius, Dappertutto, Dr Miracle in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and as Moses, Ludovico Nardi in Die Gezeichneten, and Jochanaan in Salome. Finally he sang Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde. With a repertoire of over seventy rôles he made guest appearances at the State Operas of Vienna, Munich and Hamburg, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, in Cologne, Paris, Amsterdam and at the Salzburg Festival. He was named Kammersänger in 1978.