For its first major event of 2018, Brisbane Festival has announced that Australian-born, international star Heldentenor Stuart Skelton will travel to Queensland for two semi-staged concerts of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes – the first time he’s performed his signature role in Australia since Neil Armfield’s 2009 production for Opera Australia.

Stuart Skelton as Peter Grimes. Photo © Clive Barda

The performances of an opera last seen in Brisbane a remarkable 60 years ago this year will be a co-production with Opera Queensland, Philip Bacon AM, QPAC and the QSO. “Peter Grimes is the defining British Opera of the 20th century,” said Opera Queensland’s Artistic Director Patrick Nolan. “This epic, semi-staged performance is a rare opportunity to see one of the great operas in Brisbane – FOMO is quite justified in this case.”

In order to pull it off, Skelton will be jetting into Brisbane during a break in rehearsals for Wagner’s Die Walküre at The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, but Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold believes it will be well worth the travel. “Stuart is indisputably the finest Peter Grimes on the planet,” he said, describing the performances as a...