Like the recently deceased baritone Rolf Kühne, Peter Gougaloff was one of those singers who moved to the West at the height of a successful career at the Berlin State Opera. And like his ensemble colleague, the tenor, born in Bulgaria in 1929, soon decided to make the Deutsche Oper Berlin his new artistic home. It is no surprise that he was welcomed here with open arms: with his radiant, powerful voice, Gougaloff was a first-rate interpreter of the great tenor roles in Giuseppe Verdi's operas: Radames in AIDA, Alvaro in LA FORZA DEL DESTINO and, above all, Manrico in IL TROVATORE, which became his most important role with 66 performances at his home theatre alone. From the secure base of the West Berlin ensemble, Gougaloff pursued an international career from 1973 onwards, which is still documented today in his performance as Hermann in Rostropovich's recording of Tchaikovsky's PIQUE DAME. Gougaloff was a familiar face to Berlin audiences for 27 years, appearing in numerous roles since his house debut on 30 September 1972 as Turridu in CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA. He appeared on stage here on a total of 654 evenings, including as Hoffmann in LES CONTES DE HOFFMANN and as Canio in PAGLIACCI, and later, from the mid-1980s onwards, increasingly in smaller roles. Even after his departure from the stage, Peter Gougaloff remained faithful to singing, was a sought-after singing teacher and even continued his first studies in sports medicine with his research into the functioning of the human voice. Peter Gougaloff passed away on 8 May at the age of 95. The Deutsche Oper Berlin will honour his memory.