Opera singer Josef Luftensteiner dies at 68

Opera singer Josef Luftensteiner, who held the honorary title Kammersänger, died in Vienna on Monday at the age of 68 after a long, serious illness, ORF reported. He was chair of the works council at the Vienna Volksoper and a member of the supervisory boards of Bundestheater-Holding and the Volksoper.

Born on May 23, 1958, in Wallsee in Lower Austria, Luftensteiner joined the Vienna Boys’ Choir after primary school. He studied at the conservatory in Linz and joined the Graz Opera in 1984, where the baritone quickly built a broad repertoire.

At the age of 28, he was engaged by Volksoper director Eberhard Wächter and made his debut as Figaro. Wächter valued him as an artist and was impressed by Luftensteiner’s jovial, outspoken temperament and team spirit.

During his active singing career, Luftensteiner appeared in 20 premieres and performed on more than 1,450 evenings through the end of October 2021. He took on 45 different roles over 34 years on stage.

His open approach to identifying and addressing problems later led him to serve as the Volksoper’s works council chair and then in the trade union representing employees of the federal theatres.

The Volksoper said it was deeply shaken by the loss. Managing directors Lotte de Beer and Christoph Ladstätter said: “We are losing a great person and dear friend in our Lufti.”

Andreas Babler of the Social Democratic Party, the minister responsible, described Luftensteiner as “a true veteran of our federal theatres”. He said Luftensteiner’s tireless commitment to colleagues on and behind the stages would always be remembered.