Opera singer. The German tenor is remembered for singing the title role in the historic first staged presentation of Wagner's Parsifal outside of Bayreuth. On Christmas Eve, 1903, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City broke the international ban by the Wagner family, who for 20 years had successfully proscribed staged performances anywhere outside of the theater Wagner himself had built. His performance was hailed for the "richness and power" of his voice as well as for the "thrilling expressiveness" of his declamation. Burgstaller's vocal talent had first been discovered during an amateur theater performance in church, and he was encouraged to sing professionally by Cosima Wagner, the widow of Richard Wagner. He took lessons in Frankfurt and at the Bayreuth School under Julius Kniese, making his stage debut in 1894 at the Bayreuth Festival in a small part. He would go on to sing the major Wagnerian roles of Siegfried, Siegmund, Erik, and Parsifal at Bayreuth from 1896 to 1903. He also performed these roles at other leading European opera houses, including those in such important cities as Paris, Zurich, Budapest, London, Amsterdam, and Moscow. He made his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, as Siegmund in "Die Walküre" in February 12, 1903, and subsequently appeared throughout the United States, singing in San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles. After his New York Parsifal, he was banned from any further performances at Bayreuth, but with his American career winding down, Burgstaller appealed to the Wagner family and was eventually welcomed back to Bayreuth, performing in the festivals of 1908 and 1909. After his death, he was accorded the honor of having the local market municipality and a roadway in his hometown named after him.