Alla sua prima volta al San Carlo è anche il tenore australiano Stuart Skelton, un dei più richiesti holdentenor in circolazione, secondo alcuni al momento, anzi, il miglior tenore wagneriano tout court, acclamato dalla critica per la sua eccezionale musicalità, bellezza della voce e interpretazioni intensamente drammatiche: ha debuttato nel ruolo di Tristan nella produzione al Baden-Baden Festspiel con la Filarmonica di Berlino diretta da Sir Simon Rattle, e proprio nei panni di questo personaggio raggiunge eccelsi livelli, come ha confermato anche questa sera, disegnando un Tristan dalla voce eccezionalmente, e in pari grado, tenera e forte, senza forzature, dal tono gradevolissimo, oltre che dimostrando d’esser dotato d’impeccabile fraseggio. E non è possibile passar sotto silenzio la sua interpretazione della croce e delizia d’ogni Tristan, il lungo, complesso, difficile monologo del terz’atto, purissimo toposwagneriano, che il tenore ha affrontato e risolto con eccelsa partecipazione vocale, espressiva ed emotiva, vincendo anche la prova drammaturgica.
Fermataspettacolo.it, Luigi Palillo
Stuart Skelton was magnificent as Parsifal, wielding his powerful tenor with colour and nuance to show the progression of an innocent “fool” to enlightened redeemer. His best singing came in Act 2: when the seductress Kundry’s cajoling and pleading became almost unbearable, Skelton countered with a beautiful and thrilling outburst of high notes to assert his freedom. Parsifal’s final declaration of Amfortas’ redemption and his own assumption of the Grail Knights’ leadership was sung with tenderness and sympathy as Skelton modulated his voice with pianissimo.
Bachtrack, Ako Imamura
Stuart Skelton is a revelation as Laca, singing with heroic power, burnished tone, and coping admirably with the role’s tricky tessitura. As anyone who has seen his Peter Grimes will know, he’s good at ‘misfits’. Here, his portrayal of an awkward yet basically decent man who is learning on his feet is both powerful and tender.
Limelight, Clive Paget
Ein widersprüchlicher Typ ist dieser Peter Grimes, großartig dargestellt von Stuart Skelton. Der ist ein Berg von einem Mann, tapsig und kraftvoll. Wie ein negativ gepolter Magnet stößt er die Masse der Dorfbewohner von sich ab.
Fantastisch singt Stuart Skelton den Grimes: Diese heftig schwierige Partie, die Substanz und Power und fieserweise trotzdem eine ganz leichte Höhe verlangt, meistert er beeindruckend. Ein starker Abend.
BR Klassik, Bernhard Neuhoff
Der Australier Stuart Skelton ist ein idealer Siegmund. Es ist ungeheuer befriedigend, in dieser Partie einmal keinen hochgetunten Zwischenfachtenor zu hören, dessen Stimme mit baritonaler Färbung und/oder Dauerforcieren Wucht suggeriert. Skelton ist ein echter Heldentenor, das heißt, er hat eine Stimme für die die Partie in erster Linie nicht wie keine Zumutung ist. Er bemüht sich um Differenzierungen und ums Piano, singt voller Kraft, aber nicht kraftmeierisch. Sein Siegmund hat einen Zug ins Resiginative, Melancholische: ein Held auf der Verliererstraße, mit Riesenstimme, aber ohne Zukunft.
Kleine Zeitung, Martin Gasser
On retrouve Stuart Skelton en grande forme, son timbre ayant une élégance qui échappe à la plupart de ses contemporains. L’attendu aria des retrouvailles fraternelles entre Siegmund et Sieglinde (« Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond… ») se dévoile dans un pianofort pudique qui convient à merveille au sentiment de quiétude qui unit les personnages alors que, brusquement, le printemps a pris la place de l’hiver. Il y a, chez Skelton, une telle économie de moyens que quand le Heldentenor emplit tout l’espace de la Philharmonie, on dirait tout juste qu’il pousse la chansonnette. Regardez-le garder sa bouche à moitié fermée quand, dans ses graves, il parle de Hunding : quel autre chanteur wagnérien peut se permettre de telles expressions faciales, quand le rôle est si exigeant?
Bachtrack, Pierre Liscia-Beaurenaut
In Aix, Skelton and Stemme’s performances reflected their growth in these roles over the years — Skelton especially, who didn’t merely survive Tristan’s punishing Act III monologue…but delivered it with herculean grit and shattering dramatic acuity.
The New York Times, Joshua Barone
Skelton, por su lado, preserva una fortaleza innegociable que, no conformándose con transitar por la obra sin la más mínima reserva, llega al tercer acto sobreponiéndose, con frescura, entusiasmo y enorme sabiduría. El arco expresivo que describió en este momento, creciéndose ante el dolor, la angustia de la espera y el deseo por el reencuentro fue toda una demostración.
ABC, Alberto González Lapuente
It’s Skelton’s noble, tireless singing of Tristan, perhaps the most convincing in London since Jon Vickers at Covent Garden, 34 years ago, that saves the evening.
The Sunday Times, Hugh Canning
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Discography
Stuart Skelton is one of the finest heldentenors on the stage today, critically acclaimed for his outstanding musicianship, tonal beauty, and intensely dramatic portrayals.
Performances of the 2023-24 season include the title role of Tristan und Isolde in debuts at both Teatro de la Maestranza led by Henrik Nánási and at Glyndebourne in performances conducted by Robin Ticciati. Concert appearances include the First Act of Die Walküre with Jaap van Zweden and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Gurre-Lieder with Sir Simon Rattle and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Tristan und Isolde in concert performances with Fabio Luisi and the NHK Symphony Orchestra, and an extensive tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra offering his native country the Schoenberg arrangement of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde.
Last season Stuart Skelton debuted at Teatro San Carlo in a new production of Tristan und Isolde under the baton of Constantin Trinks and returned to the Bayerische Staatsoper as the tortured nobleman in two distinct series of performances led by Juraj Valčuha and by Lothar Koenigs. A varied international concert schedule included Act Two of Tristan und Isolde with Susanna Mälkki leading the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Act One of Die Walküre with Jaap van Zweden and the Concertbegouworkest, and the title role in concert performances of Parsifal with Edward Gardner leading the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recent seasons have encompassed multiple engagements at the Bayerische Staatsoper including Parsifal in a production by Pierre Audi led by Marek Janowski, Peter Grimes directed by Stefan Herheim and conducted by Edward Gardner, and Tristan und Isolde directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski with Lothar Koenigs on the podium. With the Wiener Staatsoper, Stuart Skelton joined Philippe Jordan for a Wagner Gala under the auspices of the Musikverein für Steiermark, Graz and bowed on the main stage as Siegmund in Die Walküre conducted by Axel Kober. He has sung the title role of Tristan und Isolde at the Festival d’Aix en Provence and Laca Klemen in a new production of Jenůfa at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, both conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.
Stuart Skelton has sung Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio at Teatro alla Scala conducted by Myung-Whun Chung in a production directed by Deborah Warner, the title role of Otello at the Metropolitan Opera conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in a new production by Robert Wilson with Zubin Mehta conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker, Lohengrin at the Opéra national de Paris led by Philippe Jordan, Die Walküre at the Deutsche Oper Berlin under the baton of Donald Runnicles and at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden with Valery Gergiev leading the Mariinsky Orchestra, Jenůfa with the Bayerische Staatsoper conducted by Tomáš Hanus, Parsifal at the Opernhaus Zürich conducted by Daniele Gatti, Samson et Dalila at the Ópera National de Bordeaux, and Wozzeck for a Metropolitan Opera debut conducted by James Levine. Internationally renowned for his performances of Peter Grimes, he has sung the title role at English National Opera, Opera Australia, Opera de Oviedo, Tokyo’s New National Theatre, and in concert with the London Philharmonic under Vladimir Jurowski, with David Robertson and the Sydney Symphony, with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, and with Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh Festival.
Stuart Skelton made a much-anticipated debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Siegmund under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano, and additional staged performances of Die Walküre were given at the Metropolitan Opera conducted by Philippe Jordan, in Budapest conducted by Ádám Fischer, and in Madrid conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado. Concert performances of Act One of Die Walküre have featured the tenor with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Karina Canellakis, with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra led by Jaap van Zweden, San Francisco Symphony conducted by Simone Young, London Philharmonic Orchestra with Vladimir Jurowski, and with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, among many others.
Stuart Skelton had the honor of opening the 2016-17 Metropolitan Opera season in the company’s new production of Tristan und Isolde conducted by Sir Simon Rattle; he first reached the zenith of the tenor repertoire – as Tristan – at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in a new production by Mariusz Treliński, and he later assayed English language performances in a new production designed by Sir Anish Kapoor at the English National Opera directed by Daniel Kramer and conducted by Edward Gardner.
Stuart Skelton’s robust concert calendar has included performances of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Sir Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen and The MET Orchestra, and with Sir Simon Rattle and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and the London Symphony Orchestra; Liszt’s “Faust Symphony” with Vladimir Jurowski and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin; Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra as well as with David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; and his Ninth Symphony with Sir Antonio Pappano and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia as well as with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra. He has performed Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with Sir Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and with Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Stuart Skelton’s first solo album, Shining Knight, presents a program of Wagner, Griffes, and Barber accompanied by Asher Fisch and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and seamlessly showcases both heroic vocalism and musical sensitivity. His expansive recording catalogue also includes Tristan und Isolde with Asher Fisch and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Britten’s Peter Grimes, Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder and a Grammy Award-nominated Janáček Glagolitic Mass with Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, a Gramophone Magazine award-winning recording of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex with Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, with Sir Simon Rattle and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, with Ádám Fischer and the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, and with Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Additionally, he has contributed to four recordings of Wagner’s Ring Cycle: with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra led by Jaap van Zweden, with the Philharmoniker Hamburg and Simone Young, and with Seattle Opera and the State Opera of South Australia both under the baton of Asher Fisch.
Named Male Singer of the Year at the 2014 International Opera Awards, Mr. Skelton has been twice honored with the Sir Robert Helpmann Award: once for his performances of Siegmund in the State Opera of South Australia’s 2004 production of the Ring Cycle, and again in 2010 for Best Male Performer in a Lead Role for his portrayal of Peter Grimes for Opera Australia. He received a 2010 Green Room Award for A Streetcar Named Desire and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for his performances of Peter Grimes with the English National Opera.
Tristan und Isolde, London Symphony Orchestra
Parsifal, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Das Lied von der Erde, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Die Walküre, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Contact
General Management
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Representation (Australia)
ArtsManagement
Graham Pushee, Managing Director
Email: graham@artsmanagement.com.au
www.artsmanagement.com.au
Representation (Italy)
GM Art & Music
Gianluca Macheda, Director
Email: gm@gmartandmusic.com
www.gmartandmusic.com