Siegmund / Die Walkuere CD Live Recording. State Opera of South Australia - Melba Recordings -301091-94(SACD)
STEREOPHILE (USA) March 2007 - Richard Lehnert
Stuart Skelton's Siegmund, however, is something special: a clear, dark genuinely lyric heldentenor (if that's not an oxymoron) full of emotional vulnerability - perhaps the finest singer I've heard in this role since Ben Heppner or even James KIng......the voice is gorgeous.
FORUM OPERA October 2006 - Christophe Rizoud
Siegmund's Revenge.
Stuart Skelton’s Siegmund: He posseses the special heroic tone, a molten bronze-gold alloy; the clarity of a tenor with the colours of a baritone; the inexhaustible breath – these Wälse which never seem to finish – valour and youth.
However, his interpretation is not satisfied merely with vocal hedonism; it also expresses the weight of the fate which hounds him. More still than the poetry of spring, he gives himself up to the despair of the duet of the second act, the todesverkündigung was received with such a resigned pain such that his nobility of expression was transcendent.
It is interesting to note how the center of gravity of the work is off-set; the first act suddenly gains importance, to the detriment of the last act. Emotion is transferred from Wotan’s farewell to the ultimate fight of his son. This hero initiates, in advance, the Twilight of the Gods. And while in Adelaide, back in 2004, the audience saw Brünnhilde through Wotans’ eyes, we would rather, by listening to this recording, hear Siegmund with Sieglinde’s ears.
CLASSICS TODAY (USA) June 13 2006 - Robert Levine
Skelton is the real thing--a Heldentenor with a baritonal lower tinge that brightens as it rises, and stunning breath control (his cries of "Wälse" seem to go on for ever). His graduation to Siegfried, should he decide on it, will be an event.
BLOOMBERG (USA) July 11 2006 - Anna Picard
Also touching is Stuart Skelton's Siegmund. Steely of tone, and impressively elastic in his range, Skelton is the most promising young Wagnerian to emerge from Australia since..(Lisa) Gasteen. Few Wagner-nuts will be able to resist this recording..
MusicOMH. com (UK) July 26 2006 - Dominic McHugh
As well as Gasteen's Brünnhilde, the reason to buy the beautifully-presented set is Stuart Skelton's Siegmund. Here is a voice to listen for in the future. The Winterstürme aria is precise and demonstrates a golden voice, while the conclusion of his duet with Sieglinde is electrifying. He has both the sense of drama and the vocal power and beautfy for this music
THE GRAMOPHONE (UK) - August 2006 - Arnold Whittall
The Volsung twins are an impressive pair, too. Stuart Skelton… has reserves of intensity which … are used to genuinely thrilling effect.
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE (UK) August 2006 - Michael Scott Rohan
...an almost entirely Australian cast, headed by Stuart Skelton and Deborah Riedel's exceptional Volsung twins. Skelton's Siegmund blends the lyrical and heroic compellingly
CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE (UK) August 2006 - Michael Hayes
...classy Heldentenor singing from Stuart Skelton as Siegmund
CLASSICAL CD REVIEW (USA) August 2006 - Robert Benson
Stuart Skelton is outstanding as Siegmund (major opera houses should investigate him!)
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD August 2006 - Peter MacCallum
Stuart Skelton, as Siegmund, gives the disc's best performance with a mahoganny rich and glowing voice.
THE OPERA CRITIC September 2006 - Michael Sinclair
It is Stuart Skelton who gives the stand out vocal performance, his youthful, ardent voice with its rich baritone quality making him an ideal Siegmund.
OPERA OPERA MAGAZINE August 2006 - David Gyger
Right from the word go, the opening moments of Act I are stupendous – the orchestral sound during Siegmund’s running-through-the-forest prelude exemplary, and both Deborah Riedel’s Sieglinde and Stuart Skelton’s Siegmund performances are highly impressive. ……….Skelton’s contribution particularly struck me as I listened to the recording – the budding heldentenor ring was blossoming before my ears most impressively, and was a
consistent thrill right through to his demise in Act II, and was complemented by splendid vocal acting.
[Skelton’s] extended story-telling near the end of the act is very impressive – its dynamic range astonishing, impressing particularly when it’s reined in to the very brink of inaudibility, but as robust as they come when he lets loose the decibels required to do full justice to the interminably held Notungs as he names the sword in the tree and wrenches it free…….
At the beginning of the third disc of the set, during the renewal of Riedel and Skelton’s exemplary partnership, we are again at a pinnacle of this set’s artistry, and his (Skelton’s) rejection of Gasteen’s invitation to Valhalla sans Sieglinde is superbly infused with aural agony.
MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL June 29 2006 - Goran Forsling
The first voice to be heard after the prelude, Stuart Skelton's Siegmund, is a major find...a fully fledged dramatic tenor with tremendous power and expressiveness and also capable of much sensitive lyrical singing. Just listen to "Den Vater fand ich nicht" (CD 1 Track 9). His voice reminds me of the great James King: it is beautiful, manly and steady and seemingly with inexhaustible lung capacity. His cries "Wälse! Wälse!" in the aria "Ein Schwert verhiess mir der Vater" (CD 1 track 13) seem to last forever.
THE OBSERVER (UK) July 2006 - Anthony Holden
Stuart Skelton - a resonant Siegmund.
LIMELIGHT June 21 2006 - Derek Parker
Vocally, the obvious stars of the piece are Stuart Skelton and Deborah Riedel as Siegmund and Sieglinde....Skelton creates a wonderfully moving, introspective moment in Act I when he explains to Hunding and Sieglinde why his name is Wehwalt rather than Friedmund, but is equally effective in his great cry of "Wälse! Wälse!" a few minutes later.....He is a genuine Heldentenor, but his voice has dark tones that give him an advantage over those tenors who can find the low tessitura of the part taxing, and lend effective sensuality to his performance.
THE AGE June 15 2006 - Michael Shmith
"The Australian tenor Stuart Skelton is, quite simply, one of the best Siegmunds on disc.."
THE AUSTRALIAN May 26 2006 - Matthew Westwood
(Lisa) Gasteen (Brunnhilde) and Stuart Skelton as Siegmund are outstanding- Skelton' s cry of "Wälse! Wälse!" in Act I is appropriately bloodcurdling.
Siegmund / Die Walkuere Bochum Symphony
1. WAZ April 18 2005 - Michael Stanger
The sensation of the evening was the Australian Tenor Stuart Skelton, who is currently conquering the World. One does not hear a Siegmund such as his even every Ten years. He has the athletic presence of a Peter Hofmann and a voice that offers it all: Lyrical elegance, space-filling volume and fullness, clear diction and heroic emphasis.
Bayreuth, wake up!
Siegmund / Die Walkuere State Opera of South Australia
1. OPERA February 2005 - Hugh Canning
...Stuart Skelton's virile, baritonal Siegmund, with the most thrilling cries of 'Nothung' and 'Wälse' since the prime of James King.
2. LONDON FINANCIAL TIMES 30/11/2004 - Shirley Apthorp
....Stuart Skelton and Deborah Riedel are vocally gripping as Siegmund and Sieglinde, two full Wagnerian voices with magnificent breadth and scope; Skelton is a Heldentenor we are bound to hear more of....
2. SYDNEY MORNING HERALD 19/11/2004 - Roger Covell
....Stuart Skelton, an Australian, has the kind of baritonal tenor ideal for Siegmund and for Wagner in general and must expect to be sought after on the grandest stages for years to come....
3. ADELAIDE ADVERTISER 19/11/2004 - Ewart Shaw
....Her Siegmund - brother and lover - is Stuart Skelton, singing with such heroic presence and sensuality, such subtlety of tone that their moments together draw you right into the heart of their short-lived happiness....
4. FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE 26/11/2004 - Shirley Apthorp
....The cast is drawn almost exclusively from Australian and New Zealand artists and many of them would be very much at home on the greatest stages of the world...Stuart Skelton shows himself as a Siegmund full of promise, with a large, flexible voice and a truly heroic stature....
5. OPERNGLAS MAGAZINE Feb 2005 - A Schrader
...Stuart Skelton as Siegmund offers an interpretation that can be counted amongst the best internationally today...Stuart Skelton sang and portrayed Siegmund with warmth and power.
6. NEWSLETTER OF THE RICHARD WAGNER SOCIETY OF VICTORIA March 2005 - Aubrey Schrader
...Stuart Skelton sang and acted with warmth and power.
Siegmund / Die Walkuere Staatstheater Wiesbaden
1. LE CENERENTOLA - 10/07/04
...Stuart Skelton portrays Siegmund with great heroic pathos and radiance.
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