The opera world is mourning the loss of two singers, the contralto Maria Radner and the bass-baritone Oleg Bryjak. The singers were among those on board the Germanwings flight 4U9525 from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, which came down in the French Alps yesterday. Both had been performing in Siegfried at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and were returning home to the German city.

Although only in her mid-30s, Radner had established herself as an important artist in a remarkably short time, and was in great demand for Wagnerian roles in particular. She made her Royal Opera debut in 2012 as Erda, where she made a strong impression not only for the smooth richness of her voice – a true contralto that would surely only have grown in authority and power – but also for an unusually imposing and glamorous stage presence. Her portrayal is preserved on disc in Pentatone’s 2013 recording of Das Rheingold with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Marek Janowski.

Radner's Met debut, also in 2012, was as the First Norn in Götterdämmerung, in which role, alternating with Flosshilde, she had been due to make her Bayreuth debut this summer. She sang Anna in Berlioz’s Les Troyens at La Scala under Pappano, and was due to appear in the same opera in Buenos Aires later this season. The music of Mahler dominated her wide concert repertoire; she can be heard on Oehms Classics’ Cologne recording of the Eighth Symphony, with the Gürzenich Orchestra under Markus Stenz. Born and educated in Düsseldorf, Radner was accompanied on the flight by her husband and baby.

Bryjak had since 1996 been a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Opera am Rhein in Düsseldorf. In a statement on the company’s website, the Intendant Christoph Meyer said: ‘We have lost in Oleg Bryjak a wonderful artist and human being. We are shocked.’ Born in Kazakhstan in 1960, Bryjak performed in the USSR before winning the Sylvia Getsy Competition in Stuttgart in 1990. He was engaged at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe before the move to Düsseldorf. His repertoire covered many of the greatest comic and tragic bass-baritone roles.

Bryjak was a regular guest at several of the world’s most important opera houses. He was particularly in demand as Alberich, which he recorded while in Karlsruhe (the live Ring conducted by Günter Neuhold, now available on Documents) and sang in Vienna, Chicago, with the Berlin Staatsoper on tour in Japan under Barenboim and with the Orchestra of the Age Enlightenment under Rattle at the BBC Proms. He brought to his portrayal an imposing and natural acting ability as well as incisive, sharply focused vocalism and dark humour, characteristics which are also preserved in his performance as Dikoj in Kát'a Kabanova, captured on Fra Musica’s DVD of Robert Carsen’s production.