Experience wins out over youth, but it’s slim pickings for opera Down Under.

Italian soprano Mariella Devia and American tenor Gergory Kunde have won Best Female and Best Male Singer repsectively at the 2016 International Opera Awards. The winners were announced at a ceremony hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenter Petroc Trelawny at London’s Savoy Theatre. Australian Heldentenor Stuart Skelton, who won the prestigious Male Singer category in 2014, performed In Fernem Land from Wagner’s Lohengrin at the ceremony.

^{Stuart Skelton}

Experience seemed to count over youth in the high-profile categories. Devia, notable for her bel canto roles, won the Female Singer category (in which Anna Netrebko had also been nominated) while Kunde won Best Male Singer. German mezzo-soprano Brigitte Fassbaender was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Glyndebourne took out the Festival category and Dutch National Opera won Best Opera Company. French director Laurent Pelly won the Director category and opera streaming website The Opera Platform won the Accessibility award.

In contrast to the 2014 Awards, when Skelton, Barrie Kosky and Simone Young were all honoured, 2016 has been a far less exciting year for Australian artists. Despite the presence of...