Jess Thomas; Tenor Specialized in Wagner

Jess Thomas, the operatic Heldentenor internationally acclaimed for his Wagnerian roles, has died in San Francisco. He was 66.

Thomas, who lived in suburban Tiburon, died Monday of a heart attack.

He came late to his operatic career, having studied at Stanford University to be a child psychologist. Moving into opera in the 1950s, the native of Hot Springs, S.D., debuted with the San Francisco Opera in 1957.

He sang in Europe for several years, including “Parsifal” at Bayreuth in 1961. He made his debut with New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1962 as Walther in “Die Meistersinger.”

Asked in 1981 to substitute for an ailing tenor as Siegmund in “Die Walkeure” in San Francisco, Thomas joined his old company with a mere hour’s notice.

“Thomas sang, and the curtain somehow rose on time,” wrote Times music critic Martin Bernheimer. “He sang, furthermore, like the thoroughgoing, intelligent, resourceful, forceful professional he is. Although he hadn’t even looked at the score for a couple of years, he was saved by a good memory (he had created the role in this production 13 years ago), saved by a virtuosa prompter, saved by his own gutsy authority and saved by adrenaline that must have been pumping overtime. And, of course, he saved the show.”

Thomas had won Bernheimer’s notice years before when he sang Tristan with the San Francisco Opera in 1967.

“Jess Thomas must be the most extraordinary tenor in the business,” Bernheimer wrote. “He looks dashing on the stage, dares take on the heroic parts avoided by most of his colleagues, sings with musicianly intelligence, acts with a remarkable degree of character identification, and gives the general impression of being a thinker as well as a vocalizer.”

A year later, when Thomas sang Wagner as a soloist at the Hollywood Bowl, Bernheimer wrote: “Thomas brought a splendid combination of vigor and sensitivity to the utterances of Siegfried.”

Thomas sang professionally for a decade before he began to specialize in the Wagnerian roles that made his international reputation.

“Studying Wagner roles is like peeling an onion,” he said in 1971. “Beneath the first layer is another and another until you reach the center, then--infinity.”

Thomas is survived by his wife, Violetta; a daughter, Lisabet, and two sons, Jess David and Victor.