The Aussie Heldentenor digs deep into his experience bank to offer insights into Rienzi, Lohengrin, Parsifal and Tristan.

Few organisations have done, and are doing, as much to help Australian musicians and singers build international careers through supporting their work in the UK than the Tait Memorial Trust. Founded in 1992 by Isla Baring OAM in memory of her father Sir Frank Tait and his brothers – five men whose influence on the establishment of theatre and the performing arts in Australia was profound – the Trust delivers awards and grants for postgraduate study and performance. The current list of artists, from Connor D’Netto and Jade Moffat to Andrey Lebedev and beyond is impressive enough, not to mention a list of former beneficiaries that includes Li-Wei Qin, Morgan Pearse, Jayson Gillham, Benjamin Bayl, Amy Dickson, Duncan Rock, Grant Doyle and Elena Xanthoudakis.

Perhaps surprisingly, one name you won’t see on their lists of alumni, however, is Stuart Skelton, currently Australia’s most successful operatic export and a singer whose dazzling career has taken him to all the major houses, especially those on the lookout for a voice to encompass one of Wagner’s heavyweight heroes. When Skelton agreed to place his...