After his triumph as King Roger, the Australian baritone is excited (and nerve-wracked) to perform with Jonas Kaufmann.

Earlier this year, Michael Honeyman gave the performance of his life when he played the title role in Karol Szymanowski’s opera King Roger. The 20th-century Polish masterpiece, was given a spectacular staging in a co-production between the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Opera Australia directed by Kasper Holten.

Michael Honeyman as King Roger. Photograph © Jeff Busby

Honeyman did a superb job as the conflicted monarch torn between the orthodox religion he has been brought up with and the sensuous hedonism preached by a visiting prophet known only as “The Shepherd” – a psychological drama considered to be an allegory of the composer coming to terms with his homosexuality.

Limelight described Honeyman’s performance as “his most impressive” for Opera Australia to date saying: “Roger is a damned difficult part, dramatically vacillating; constantly under pressure, yet demanding a vocal firmness and determination completely at odds with all of that. Honeyman captures the tormented leader, uncomfortable from the get-go in his stuffily starched collar, wishing to be authoritative and live in the bright light...