David Berthold has seen the inside of a great many theatres and concert halls in his role as artistic director of the Brisbane Festival and former artistic director of various state theatre companies. So when he describes a particular performance as "the best music experience of my life", you take note.

Berthold is describing a summer's night he spent in Edinburgh last August watching Australian heldentenor Stuart Skelton perform a concert version of Benjamin Britten's powerful opera, Peter Grimes.