Stuart Skelton debuts As Tristan – And Returns To Sing In Sydney
(c)Sim Canetty-Clarke
Diarise the dates – heldentenor Stuart Skelton returns to Sydney – 14, 16 and 17 October, 2015 – to perform with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Robertson, at the Sydney Opera House in a performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.
It is part of a busy year for him as he makes his debut in the title role in Tristan und Isolde for in a new staged co-production at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus with Eva-Maria Westbroek as Isolde and Sarah Connolly as Brangäne, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.
This production opens The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016/17 season in September 2016 where Stuart Skelton is joined by soprano Nina Stemme as Isolde. He will also sing Tristan in concert performances with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in Berlin and in another new production at English National Opera conducted by Edward Gardner and designed by artist Anish Kapoor.
Stuart Skelton commented, ‘Despite the inevitability of my encountering Tristan, you never really feel like you are ready when the opportunity comes, but the chance to tackle Everest when it arises shouldn’t be passed up, particularly when it is with Sir Simon Rattle and Edward Gardner at the helm.’
There’s more Wagner in store when he sings Siegmund in Die Walküre in a new production at Ópera de Oviedo in Spain. Closer to home, Stuart Skelton sings Siegmund for the Hong Kong Philharmonic and its Music Director Jaap van Zweden in their Wagner journey with two concert performances of Die Walküre on 21 & 23 January 2016 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, where he is joined by Matthias Goerne as Wotan, Michelle DeYoung as Fricka, Petra Lang as Brunnhilde and Mikhail Petrenko as Hunding.
The concert year’s other highlights include concert performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 with Sir Antonio Pappano in Rome, Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila in Bordeaux, and the role of Waldemar in Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder in Bergen with Edward Gardner.
