Born in Rheydt to a musical family, Esser was first a graphic designer and then began to study architecture.

[1] He made his debut at the Stadttheater Krefeld in 1954 and moved via Gelsenkirchen as a lyrical tenor to the Komische Oper Berlin in 1957, where he worked with Walter Felsenstein.

His broad repertoire included Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Radames in Verdi's Aida, Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème, operas by Janáček (Jenůfa, Káťa Kabanová and Aus einem Totenhaus), Alban Berg's Wozzeck and Aribert Reimann's Lear.

[2] Esser first sang at the Bayreuth Festival in 1966, on an invitation by Wieland Wagner, as Froh in Das Rheingold.

[3] Esser performed as a guest at major European opera houses, including the Vienna State Opera, where he appeared as Tristan in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Siegfried in Der Ring des Nibelungen, and in the title role of Parsifal.