The 11th-hour engagement will see Stagg sing the title roll in Luigi Rossi’s Orpheus in London this evening.

Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House in the heart of London is becoming a home away from home for many superb Australian singers. For several years the Royal Opera’s prestigious Jette Parker Young Artists Programme has nurtured an increasingly substantial number of emerging Aussie opera stars, but the world famous opera company is also taking notice of talented Australian artists making their mark elsewhere in Europe. One such singer is soprano Siobhan Stagg, currently in her second year as a Young Artist at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, who will be making her Royal Opera House debut in the title role of 17th-Century Italian composer Luigi Rossi’s Orpheus this evening.

Stepping out onto one of the most revered opera stages in the world is inevitably daunting, but Stagg faces an even more challenging first appearance at Covent Garden. Having accepted the role at extremely short notice after British soprano Mary Bevan was forced to withdraw from the engagement just days before opening due to poor health, Stagg will perform the first two performances of Orpheus’ sold out season from the gallery,...