The bass Victor von Halem came to the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1965 on Herbert von Karajan's recommendation and was to become one of the defining singers of our house during the 30 years of his permanent engagement. Born in Berlin and raised in Italy, Portugal and later in Stuttgart and Munich, von Halem had just completed his studies at the Munich Musikhochschule at that time, and then gradually worked his way up to all the great roles in his field during his permanent engagement at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. These included Sarastro and Rocco as well as the great Verdi and Wagner roles. He appeared as Ramfis in AIDA and King Philipp in DON CARLO as well as Gurnemanz, Hagen, King Marke, Landgraf Heinrich and Saint-Bris in Meyerbeer's LES HUGUENOTS. In addition to his permanent engagements in Berlin, von Halem has made guest appearances at the great houses in Munich, Hamburg, Milan, Rome, Paris as well as in Tokyo and Osaka, and also at the neighbouring Staatsoper Unter den Linden. He was a regular guest at the Salzburg Festival under Herbert von Karajan and was closely associated with the Spoleto Festival. There he had a close working relationship with the festival's director, Giancarlo Menotti, who, because of him, staged Wagner's DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG, thus enabling von Halem to make his stage debut as Hans Sachs.

In addition to his specialist roles as a serious bass, however, von Halem also had a love of lighter genres such as the musical, the operetta and the chanson. As a young person he had the desire to become a clown, and his love of entertainment was later reflected in roles such as that of Caiaphas in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR or also the pig farmer Zsupan in Johann Strauss' DER ZIGEUNERBARON, both at the Theater des Westens, or also with his appearance in his "Midnight-Medley" at the Haus an der Bismarckstraße. And as recently as 2016 he could be seen at the Renaissance Theatre in the role of an aged singer in Ronald Harwood's play "Quartetto". Victor von Halem's work is documented on a large number of recordings, including PARSIFAL and TOSCA, Hector Berlioz's LA DAMNATION DE FAUST, Franz Schreker's DER FERNE KLANG or Alexander von Zemlinsky's DER TRAUMGÖRGE, but also the album "Humor im Lied" with works from Bach to Peter Cornelius. Victor von Halem left the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1995, only to return regularly as a guest thereafter. In 2016, at the suggestion of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Berlin Senate awarded him the honorary title of "Berliner Kammersänger".

Victor von Halem died on 28 May 2022 in his 82nd year after a long illness. Deutsche Oper Berlin will honour his memory.