Stuart Skelton Buckles Up For The Year Ahead

One of Sydney’s favourite tenors, Stuart Skelton, won’t be taking his foot off the pedal, judging from the release of his engagements for 2014-15. His appearances which straddle the opera theatre and the concert hall, include a debut performance at La Scala in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, his role debut in Otello with English National Opera under Sir Edward Gardner, and the role of Siegmund in Die Walküre at the Bayerische Staatsoper. 

Acknowledged as one of the finest heldentenors of his generation, Stuart Skelton has been critically acclaimed for his vocal prowess and complex dramatic portrayals. He has made the  role of Peter Grimes his own as well as earning a glowing reputation for his interpretation of Wagnerian roles. He is the 2014 winner of Male Singer of the Year at the International Opera Awards.

Skelton opens the 2014/15 season with a return to the BBC Proms for a performance of Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Crouch End Festival Chorus, conducted by Edward Gardner before moving on to the ENO for Otello in September/October. 

Recently heard in Opera Australia’s production of The Ring Cycle in Melbourne, Stuart Skelton has appeared in many of the world’s most celebrated opera houses, amongst them, the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Paris Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Berlin State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Vienna State Opera. Stuart’s roles include the title roles in Lohengrin, Rienzi, Parsifal, Dmitrij and Peter Grimes as well as Florestan in Fidelio, Laca in Jenufa, Erik in Der Fliegende Holländer, The Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, The Prince in Rusalka, Max in Der Freischütz and Siegmund in Der Ring des Nibelungen.

 So if you’re travelling and happen to be in a city where Stuart Skelton is performing, here are more details of his engagements:

Verdi Otello*/English National Opera/Edward Gardner/London Coliseum

13, 16, 19, 25, 27 September and 4, 9, 11, 14, 17 October 2014

*co-production with The Royal Swedish Opera and Teatro Real Madrid 

Beethoven Symphony No.9/Hamburg Philharmonic/Simone Young/Laeiszhalle, Philharmoniker Hamburg

9 November 2014 

Beethoven Symphony No.9/BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Donald Runnicles/City Halls Glasgow, Music Hall Aberdeen and Usher Hall Edinburgh

13, 14 & 16 November 2014 

Mahler Das Lied von Erde/Philharmonia Zürich/Cornelius Meister/Opernhaus Zürich

14 December 2014 

Beethoven Missa Solemnis/Bergen Philharmonic/Sir Antonio Pappano/La Scala

20 & 21 December 2014 

Saint-Saëns Samson & Dalila/Samson/Ópera de Oviedo/ Maximiano Valdés/Teatro Campoamor

28, 31 January and 3, 6 February 2015

 Wagner Die Walküre/Siegmund/Bayerische Staatsoper /Kirill Petrenko/Nationaltheater

28 February and 6, 14, 23 March 2015 

Janáček Glagolitic Mass/Bergen Philharmonic/Edward Gardner/Grieghallen

26 & 27 March 2015

 Elgar The Kingdom op.51 (oratorium)/St John/Radio Philharmonic Orchestra/Edward Gardner/ivoliVredenburg Utrecht

3 April 2015

 Saint-Saëns Samson & Dalila/Samson/Atlanta Symphony Orchestra/Robert Spano/Atlanta Symphony Hall

4 & 6 June 2015