Donald Conroy McIntyre, born on October 22, 1934 in Auckland, New Zealand, was a bass-baritone singer known for his operatic performances. He made his debut in 1959 as Zaccaria in Nabucco (Verdi) at the Welsh National Opera. In 1967, McIntyre began performing at Covent Garden and the Bayreuth Festival. He sang Wotan in Das Rheingold at the Metropolitan Opera from 1975 to 1996. His discography includes recordings such as Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande (conducted by Pierre Boulez, 1969), Händel: Messiah (Karl Richter, 1973), Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust (Seiji Ozawa, 1973), R. Strauss: Elektra (Carlos Kleiber, 1977), Beethoven: Fidelio (Karl Böhm, 1978), and Chausson: Le Roi Arthus (Leon Botstein, 2005). In 1982, Donald McIntyre was honored with a Grammy Award for his role as Wotan in Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (1981), conducted by Pierre Boulez. In 1977, Donald McIntyre was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to opera, before being promoted to Commander of the order in 1985 and Knight Bachelor in 1992. In 1990, he received the New Zealand Commemoration Medal. Donald McIntyre died in Munich on November 13, 2025, at the age of 91.
