Pape received his musical education from 1974 to 1981 with the Dresdner Kreuzchor (he even appeared as one of the Three Boys[1] in Die Zauberflöte) and the Dresden Conservatory in the early '80s.

He had his first solo recital in Carnegie Hall on 25 April 2009, where he sang German lieder by Schubert, Hugo Wolf and Schumann.

Pape made a highly acclaimed role debut as Wotan in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in 2011 in a new co-production by the Staatsoper Berlin, directed by Guy Cassiers, with Daniel Barenboim conducting.

Pape is also known for his performances of the song cycle Mein Herz brennt, composed by Torsten Rasch and based on the music of the heavy metal band Rammstein.

Pape has received two Grammys for his recordings (Die Meistersinger in 1997 and Tannhäuser in 2002), was named "Vocalist of the Year" by Musical America in 2002, "Artist of the Year" by the German opera critics in 2006 for his Boris Godunov at the Berlin Staatsoper, and won in 2009 an ECHO award for his solo arias, Gods, Kings and Demons.

[7][8] Pape's work at the Metropolitan Opera has also included the company's first production of the original 1869 version of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov.