While Steuart was playing in the pit for Britten in The Turn of the Screw, he was conducting the other production in the English Opera Group season, A Midsummer Night's Dream. After the autumn run at Sadler's Wells, the Dream moved on to San Francisco, and Steuart made his US debut at the helm. Benjamin Luxon was singing Demetrius and in the new year of 1972, back in Britain, he and Steuart performed several recitals together.

Steuart conducted the new production for the English Opera Group that spring, John Gardner's The Visitors, which played in the Aldeburgh Festival. He was also back in the pit again for The Turn of the Screw and conducted some Stockhausen, which wasn't a popular choice for the festival-goers who rewarded it with boos.

Britten, meanwhile, was coming to the decision that he should stop conducting for a while, at least until he felt better and his ongoing heart issues were resolved. On 5 August, after the last performance of The Turn of the Screw in the ‘Summer at the Maltings’ season, Britten insisted on bringing the entire orchestra, including Steuart, on stage for a curtain call. It would turn out to be the last opera performance Britten ever conducted.

Since he was composing Death in Venice for performance the following year, this presented the issue of who would conduct it in his place. Although an announcement wasn't made until the following spring, it was clear there was only one candidate for the job. Steuart was of a different opinion.

IT'S A QUESTION I often ask myself. Of all the people he could have chosen, why me?

I can't remember exactly what happened, but the invitation to conduct Death in Venice must have come after an English Opera Group meeting in which Colin Graham would have been the big white chief.

As it happened, I saw him in the street after the meeting and he said, ‘You’re going to be asked to do Death in Venice.’

I didn't believe it. I said, ‘Oh yeah, right, fine.’ I didn't believe it at all.

Colin and I got on very well. We got quite close. He was definitely a champion of mine.

Ben had never felt there had been a decent production of A Midsummer Night's Dream until Colin did his in 1967, and that was the one.