Deon van der Walt

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Deon van der Walt (July 28, 1958 – November 29, 2005), was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Van der Walt began his musical education at the world famous Drakensberg Boys' Choir under Maestro Christian Ashley Botha where many of South Africa's most accomplished musical talents passions and talents were first cultivated. He went on to study singing at the University of Stellenbosch and made his debut as Jaquino in Beethoven's Fidelio at the (then) Nico Malan Opera House in Cape Town before he had graduated. Numerous scholarships and awards allowed him to continue his studies abroad. In 1981 he won the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg. His first formal engagement took him to Gelsenkirchen, then to Stuttgart and Zurich. He was invited to perform at Covent Garden in London in 1985 and there made his debut as Almaviva in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. He returned in later years to sing Lindoro in "L'Italiana in Algeri," and Ramiro in "La Cenerentola"(1990), Belmonte in "Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail,"(1988), and Tamino in "Die Zauberflote."

Deon van der Walt was counted amongst the leading lyric tenors and he performed at all the world’s major opera houses including:

• La Scala in Milan,
• the Hamburg
• the Vienna State Operas,
• the Bavarian State Opera in Munich,
• the Liceu in Barcelona and the
• Met in New York.

Additionally he also performed at numerous international festivals, especially at the Salzburger Festspiele, where he sung Belmonte in Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio and Ferrando in Così fan tutte under Riccardo Muti. In the 1990s Van de Walt added Frenh opera to his repertoire, singing Romeo in Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette," Tonio in "La Fille du Regiment," and Des Grieux in Massenet's "Manon."

On video/DVD he can be seen i.a. in Handel's Semele as Jupiter, singing a long, beautifully shaped Where e're You Walk, in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix with Edita Gruberova, in La Belle Helene, effortlessly soaring to the heights as Paris, and in Mozart's The Magic Flute as Tamino with Ulrike Sonntag as Pamina.

Van de Walt also found time to promote his family's Veenvouden wines, as well as other South African wines by hosting musical wine dinners.

Deon van der Walt died at the age of 47 at his own wine farm in South Africa. Apparently, he was shot twice in the chest by his own father, Sarel "Charles" van der Walt, who then committed suicide. Their bodies were found by Deon's mother, Sheila.