Biography

Stuart Skelton has been acclaimed as one of the finest heldentenors of his generation, being critically acclaimed for his outstanding musicianship, tonal beauty and intensely dramatic operatic portrayals.

Stuart has appeared in many of the world’s most celebrated opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle 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. His 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.

"Skelton's virile, baritonal Siegmund, with the most thrilling cries of Nothung and Wälse since the prime of James King"- Opera

 He continues to be in demand on concert stages around the world, in repertoire that includes Mahler’s Das Klagende Lied and Das Lied von der Erde, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Missa Solemnis, Verdi’s Requiem, Dvořak’s Requiem, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass and the Psalmus Hungaricus of Kodály. Stuart has appeared with such orchestras as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich Radio Symphony Orchestras, London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Orchestras of Scotland and Wales and the Symphony Orchestras of Sydney, Melbourne, 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 Daniel Barenboim, Jiři Bèlohlavek, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Christoph Eschenbach, Asher Fisch, Mariss Jansons, Phillipe Jordan, Lorin Maazel, Sir Charles Mackerras, David Robertson, Donald Runnicles, Sebastian Weigle, Franz Welser-Möst and Simone Young.

“It is the Grimes of the young Australian Stuart Skelton — surely the finest on a London stage since the celebrated Jon Vickers — who sets the seal on the evening. “ - Sunday Times

His most recent recording, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Michael Tilson-Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, was released on the Symphony’s own label. Other recordings include Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Die Walküre under Asher Fisch and the State Opera of South Australia for which he won the 2007 Academie du Disc Lyrique – Lauritz Melchior Award. Stuart also appears as King Arthur on the Teatro Real, Madrid’s DVD of Merlin, released under Opus Arte.

Recent seasons has seen Stuart return to the Hamburg State Opera as Siegmund in a new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen, The Zurich Opera in the same role and the English National Opera in the title role of a new production of Peter Grimes as well as his role debut as Boris in Kat’a Kabanova. Most recently he made his Seattle Opera debut as Siegmund, his Chicago Symphony debut at Ravinia in Das Lied von der Erde with James Conlon and performed at the Tanglewood Festival in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. He returned to Opera Australia in a new production as Peter Grimes and reprised his award winning performance as Mitch in Andre Previn’s A Streetcar named Desire. Stuart also made his house debut with Opera National de Bordeaux in one of his signature roles, Laca in Jenůfa

“Stuart Skelton is the finest Laca I have ever heard.” - Financial Times

Future plans include Lohengrin with LA Opera, his role debut as Canio with the West Australian Opera, Das Lied von der Erde with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Azhkenazy, his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle, Parsifal in Zurich and London, Peter Grimes with the New National Theater, Tokyo and Drum Major in Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera and Santa Fe Opera.

Stuart has been honoured with the 2005 Sir Robert Helpmann Award for his performance of Siegmund in the State Opera of South Australia’s production of the The Ring Cycle, a 2010 Greenroom Award for A Streetcar named Desire and was nominated for an Olivier Award in Outstanding Achievement in Opera for his performances as Peter Grimes with the English National Opera.