Heartthrob American tenor channels Mel Gibson’s Braveheart in his Opera Australia debut.

Sitting next to James Valenti in the Sydney Opera House green room, I feel like I’m interviewing a soap opera star, not an opera singer. The tall American tenor with matinee idol good looks is turning left and right – as if trying to decide on his best side – and gesturing theatrically as he explains his inner turmoil as Edgardo in Opera Australia’s new production of Lucia di Lammermoor. 

“Her clan has killed his family and he swore to have vengeance and to redeem his family name, yet he’s fallen in love with her. He’s manic in the first duet. He’s happy to see her but then he’s like, ‘I have to do this… But then your family… But when I see you… But I can’t, I can’t do it!… I just can’t resist the way I feel about you, but…’ He’s kind of scary. These are very visceral emotions.”

On paper, there can be no mistaking Valenti for a B-grade soap star. The 34-year-old recently made his Covent Garden and Met debuts as Alfredo in La Traviata, singing opposite Angela Gheorghiu in New York. And for...