The London-based baritone, who was born and raised in Sydney, is in Australia for the rest of the year. Whilst here, one of his appearances will be as Mercutio in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette for State Opera South Australia.

“I’ve been singing so many awful characters recently, like Scarpia in Tosca, Enrico in Lucia [di Lammermoor] and Achilla in Giulio Cesare, none of them very nice, that it will be great to play a guy who is a bit more straightforward,” he says. 

Morgan Pearse. Photo © Eric Melear

Pearse bowls up on his pushbike to meet me in a quiet suburban London square. It’s July, and he’s had an intensive day, rehearsing Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor for Opera Holland Park. Yet, there is not a hint of tiredness in his burnished vocal tones, exuberant persona and hearty laugh.  

His subsequent performance was described by Mark Valencia in Bachtrack as “a dastard par excellence as the cynical Enrico”. In a review for The Guardian, Clive Paget (Limelight’s Editor-at-Large) wrote, “Morgan Pearse sings Lucia’s hard-hearted brother Enrico with impressive heft and plenty of ping to the voice.”

August saw Pearse performing and conducting a masterclass in Brisbane at the...