Franz-Josef Kapellmann was born near Cologne, where he studied at the Musikhochschule, taking his first engagements in 1973 at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and the Theatre in Dortmund. His extensive repertoire includes rôles such as Don Pizzaro in Fidelio, the title-rôle in Wozzeck, Kaspar in Der Freischütz, Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Wolfram in Tannhäuser, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde, with Alberich in The Ring cycle in Brussels, at the Hamburg and Vienna State Operas, in Wiesbaden and Dortmund, at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, and La Scala, Milan, and in a concert performance under Christoph von Dohnányi in Cleveland. At the Salzburg Festival he appeared as Creon in Stravinky’s Oedipus Rex and as the Dutchman in Der fliegende Holländer.