The Sydney-born Heldentenor triumphs as the first ever Australian Tristan at the Metropolitan Opera.

Australian Heldentenor Stuart Skelton has triumphed at the Metropolitan Opera House with his performance as Wagner’s tortured operatic hero Tristan. Conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, Skelton became the first Australian to perform the demanding role at the Met whose new production of Tristan und Isolde headlines the 2016-2017 season.

Skelton, one of today’s finest Heldentenors, has met with considerable success over the past few years in the equally challenging roles of Otello and Siegmund. Now, the critics are lining up to praise his impressive portrayal of Tristan, and the impressive vocal power he brings to the role, honed by performances earlier this year in Baden Baden and at English National Opera in London. The Guardian praised the tenor’s “honey-voiced portrayal” of Tristan, while New York’s Observer was similarly impressed, writing that Skelton demonstrated the “vocal power and stamina ideal for the marathon role of Tristan”. The Wall Street Journal praised his Act III hallucinations as “entirely persuasive, even as he sang a succession of difficult monologues, and his tenor always sounded supported, without...