Stuart Skelton

Tenor
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Australasia and non-exclusive Asia
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© Guðmundur Ingólfsson

Stuart Skelton has appeared in most of the world’s most celebrated opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Bavarian State Opera, La Scala Milan, Hamburg State Opera, Berlin State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Dresden Semperoper, the Vienna State Opera and Seattle Opera. His roles include the title roles in Lohengrin, Tristan (Tristan und Isolde), Rienzi, Parsifal, Dimitrij, Otello 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, Max in Der Freischütz, Canio in I Pagliacci, Gherman in The Queen of Spades, and Siegmund in Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Stuart’s 2024 engagements will include his debut with the Seoul Philharmonic in Die Walküre, Act 1 (Jaap van Zweden conducting), Tristan for the Tokyo Spring Music Festival and at Glyndebourne Festival, Gurrelieder with Sir Simon Rattle in Munich, a national tour of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Siegmund (Die Walküre) for Sydney Symphony, Simone Young conducting, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Melbourne Symphony, Jaime Martin conducting.

He is in constant demand on concert stages around the world, having appeared with such orchestras as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Orchestras of Scotland and Wales and the Symphony Orchestras of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Western Australia and Tasmania. He has also appeared at the Edinburgh and Lucerne Festivals, and in the BBC Proms.

Throughout his career Stuart has been fortunate enough to work with many acclaimed conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, Karina Canellakis, Asher Fisch, Edward Gardner, Phillipe Jordan, Fabio Luisi, David Robertson, Sir Simon Rattle, Donald Runnicles, Simone Young and Jaap van Zweden.

Stuart Skelton’s recent recordings include performances of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Adam Fischer and the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker; both the Mahler and Siegmund in Die Walküre with Sir Simon Rattle and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, a role he has also recorded with Asher Fisch in Adelaide and in Seattle, with Simone Young in Hamburg and with Jaap van Zweden in Hong Kong. His recording of Peter Grimes with long-time collaborator and friend, Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic was released to international acclaim in 2020 and received a Grammy award for best classical recording in 2021. His recording of Korngold’s Abschiedslieder, Fried’s Verklärte Nacht and Lehar’s Fieber with the BBC Symphony, again under Edward Gardner, was released to worldwide praise. Stuart has also recorded his first solo album, Shining Knight and Tristan und Isolde with The West Australian Symphony and Asher Fisch.

In 2021 Stuart was awarded the Icelandic Music Award’s Male Singer of the Year Award.

January 2025
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“Stuart Skelton's Tristan, less baritonal than some, more lyrical than heroic, displayed a Lieder signer's elegance of line that turned into feverish energy in Act 3, tackled with all the necessary stamina.”

Xavier Cester

“Stuart Skelton’s polished mahogany baritonal hue…[His] Tristan is most remarkable in its range of expression from gentle caress to roaring rage…His detailed word painting with such finely graded colours is captivating and one hangs on his every utterance…A towering performance from a great singing actor.”

Warwick Arnold

“He knows his Wagner inside out and Skelton is as reliable as ever. Possibly there is no better Wagner tenor around at present. He delivers unforced singing, beautiful tone, strength, brilliance and natural phrasing. His enunciation is also exemplary…”

“Skelton’s powerful, burnished tone shot out of darkness like a thunderbolt in the opening cry of pain. In the remainder of the aria, the Heldentenor communicated steadfast nobility in the face of crushing solitude, before building to an upliftingly sanguine conclusion”.

James Imam

“…Stuart Skelton’s magnificent Siegmund is here preserved in excellent sound, the stream of golden tone pouring forth in this, a signature role. His attention to psychological detail and word painting is compelling, culminating in a moving Zauberfest.”

Clive Paget

“Stuart Skelton’s Tristan is the finest account of Wagner’s most extreme and taxing operatic character...that I’ve ever seen or heard on a stage.”

David Nice

“…the evening’s greatest stage performance comes from Heldentenor Stuart Skelton, whose Tristan is tireless and sung with profound conviction”.

George Hall

“He vocalised the role superbly: not a crack or a fumble, the tone trumpet-bright and penetrating. Not since Domingo in his prime can this music have been sung with more complete assurance.”

Rupert Christiansen

Managed by Graham Pushee: Email Graham February 2024

This biography is for general information purposes only and not for publication.

Please contact Graham for an up-to-date biography to suit your needs.