Home listening - solo Stuart Skelton and a John Tomlinson Swansong

The Guardian 0

The great Australian tenor excels in Wagner and more. Plus, surprises with Schubert and Schumann

• Stuart Skelton, the Australian heldentenor, first made his name in the UK in 2009 with unforgettable performances as Britten’s Peter Grimes. Increasingly he’s in demand as a Wagnerian, currently singing Siegmund in Die Walküre in the Royal Opera’s Ring (live in cinemas next Sunday). Few tenors have the particular combination of weight throughout the range, with ringing top notes and baritonal strength, required for Wagner’s heroic roles. Skelton is emphatically one. In his solo disc Shining Knight (ABC Classics), with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Asher Fisch, he sings extracts from Wagner early and late: Rienzi, Lohengrin, Die Walküre and Parsifal. The Wesendonck Lieder allow him ample scope for lyricism and some magical pianissimi. Late romantic American songs by Griffes and Barber complete the disc.