Peter Grimes tenor Stuart Skelton praises ‘risk-taking’ ENO as he wins top award

 
8 April 2014

Australian tenor Stuart Skelton hailed the bravery of English National Opera, the company which gave him his first break, as he was named male singer of the year.

Skelton, 45, won top honours at the second International Opera Awards, founded in London. He beat rivals from Germany, France, Italy, America and Sweden to take the honour for his performance in Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes, at ENO.

The singer paid tribute to the London company as he picked up the award at the ceremony, hosted by the Go Compare tenor Wynne Evans at the Grosvenor House Hotel last night. “ENO is where everything kicked off for me with Jenufa [by Leos Janacek] in 2006,” he said.

“I was born in Australia, I live in the United States, but ENO is the company that has always been there.

“It takes risks and when you take big risks sometimes they don’t pay off but when they do, they pay off in a way other people can’t re-produce.” He urged the audience to “keep the faith,” saying: “This is an art form worth shouting and screaming for.”

Female singer of the year went to German soprano Diana Damrau, 42, who spoke of a “dream” year in which she had her second child and made her debut in La Traviata at the Metropolitan Opera, in New York.

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