Stuart
Skelton has emerged as one of the finest heroic tenors of his generation.
His repertoire encompasses some of Opera’s most challenging roles, from
Wagner's Parsifal, Lohengrin, Erik, Rienzi and Siegmund,
to Strauss’s Kaiser, Beethoven’s Florestan, Dvorak’s Dimitrij and
Britten’s Peter Grimes. He is acclaimed for his beautiful voice,
outstanding musicianship, and his intensely dramatic portrayals.
In the
past seasons Stuart has sung Parsifal, Florestan, Erik, Don Jose,
Siegmund, Das Lied von der Erde and Beethoven’s 9th
Symphony making appearances in Vienna, Frankfurt, Adelaide, Genoa,
Hamburg and Los Angeles. Mr Skelton also made his BBC Proms debut at the
Royal Albert Hall, London in the title role of Dimitrij, and his
Edinburgh Festival debut as Adolar in Weber's Euryanthe. Stuart's
Helpmann Award - winning portrayal of Siegmund in the highly acclaimed State
Opera of South Australia's new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des
Nibelung under the musical direction of Asher Fisch, moved Opera
magazine to write:
"Skelton's virile, baritonal Siegmund, with the most
thrilling cries of Nothung and Wälse since the prime of James King"
In this most
recent season Stuart reprised some of his most acclaimed roles, performing
Lohengrin in Trieste, Erik with Deutsche Oper Berlin, Der Kaiser in
Frankfurt and The Prince in Rusalka with Paris Opera in his Paris
debut. Mr Skelton also added to his already comprehensive repertoire,
undertaking Laca in a new production of Jenufa with Opera Frankfurt.
Upcoming
seasons see Stuart making a return to San Francisco Opera as Don Jose
and reprising two of his signature roles, Der Kaiser and Siegmund at the
Hamburg State Opera under the baton of Simone Young. Stuart also makes his
Carnegie Hall debut in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the St
Louis Symphony under new Chief Conductor, David Robertson as well making his
Boston Symphony Orchestra debut reprising his highly acclaimed portrayal of
Oedipus Rex, under the baton of Christoph von Dohnanyi .
Stuart reprises the role of Parsifal in a new production at Opera
Frankfurt and also returns to the Hamburg State Opera as Max in Weber's
Der Freischutz and the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the title role of
Wagner's Rienzi.
In 2003,
Stuart followed his success in his role debut as the Kaiser in Die Frau
ohne Schatten, with his first foray as Peter Grimes. Stuart’s
portrayal of Grimes prompted one critic to describe Stuart's performance:
“Skelton’s aggressive, hymn-like outcries were
reminiscent of the reference recording of Jon Vickers.”
This success
was followed by appearances with Teatro Real, Madrid as King Arthur in the
World Premiere of Isaac Albeniz’ Merlin. Mr Skelton also made his
Hollywood Bowl and LA Philharmonic debut with Beethoven’s 9th
Symphony at the Sept 11 Memorial Concert.
Stuart
Skelton began 2002 as Lohengrin and Erik at the Deutsche Staatsoper,
Berlin under Daniel Barenboim. Shortly thereafter Mr Skelton made his Vienna
State Opera debut appearing as Florestan in the Memorial Performance for
Gösta Winbergh. He followed these performances with appearances as Wagner’s
Rienzi in concert with the State Theatre Stuttgart. Mr Skelton then
travelled to his native Sydney for a critically acclaimed series of
performances as Don José and at the end of that same year appeared again as
Lohengrin with the Teatro Communale Bologna under Daniele Gatti.
Stuart’s
orchestral repertoire includes Das Lied von der Erde, Beethoven’s
Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis, Dvorak’s Requiem,
Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, Verdi’s Requiem and Elgar’s Dream
of Gerontius. Mr Skelton has performed these and other works with the
Sydney Symphony, LA Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Frankfurt Radio
Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony, North German Radio Symphony, BBC Symphony
Wales and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He has appeared alongside
illustrious conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Christoph von Dohnanyi,
Christoph Eschenbach, Asher Fisch, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Harding, Richard
Hickox, Mariss Jansons, Lorin Maazel, Sir Charles Mackerras, David
Robertson, Donald Runnicles, Edo de Waart, Sebastian Weigle and Simone
Young.
A native
of Australia, Stuart Skelton received his early vocal training in Sydney and
came to national attention after winning Australia’s two most prestigious
awards. Stuart furthered his studies at the University of Cincinnati College
Conservatory of Music under professors Barbara Honn and Thomas Baresel,
graduating in 1995 with his Master of Music, and then proceeding to San
Francisco where he was invited to join the prestigious Adler Fellowship
during which he became the first Australian to win the Belvedere Competition
in Vienna. He has received awards from the Sullivan Foundation and the
Robert Lauch Memorial Award from the Wagner Society of New York.
Mr
Skelton can be seen as King Arthur on the BBC/Opus Arte/Teatro Real Madrid
DVD of the World Premiere of Albeniz’ Merlin, and can be heard as
Siegmund in the soon to be released Melba Recordings CD release of the
Helpmann Award winning State Opera of South Australia's Der Ring des
Nibelung, for which Mr Skelton received the Helpmann Award for "Best
Male Performer in a supporting role in an Opera" for his portrayal of
Siegmund.
Stuart
Skelton recently acknowledged that he is "always aware of how large a part
the ASC (Mathy in my particular case) has played" in his life. He also
said "where I am today is in no small part because of the support I received
from the ASC back in 1991."
For Stuart's testimonial,
click here.
More details can be found on his website:
www.stuartskelton.com
