Christopher Purves (born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

) is an English bass-baritone.''Opera'' (2009), vol. 60, p. 516, "Christopher Purves. Erica Jeal. Purves sings his first Falstaff at Glyndebourne this month Before I get to talk with ... Home was Cambridge, where as a boy treble he sang in the choir of King's College. ... (

Gerald Finley Gerald Hunter Finley, (born January 30, 1960) is a Canadian baritone opera singer. Early life Finley was born in Montreal and studied music at St. Matthew's Anglican Church, Ottawa, the University of Ottawa, King's College, Cambridge and the Ro ...

was the fellow bass of his year group: the tenor

Mark Padmore Mark Padmore (born 8 March 1961) is a British tenor appearing in concerts, recitals, and opera. He was born in London on 8 March 1961, and raised in Canterbury, Kent, England. Padmore studied clarinet and piano prior to his gaining a choral ...

was in the year above.) ..."

Career

Purves sang with

Opera North Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and ...

in several productions in the seasons 1997 to 2004 and later. He performed with

The Sixteen The Sixteen are a United Kingdom-based choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers, they started as an unnamed group of sixteen friends in 1977, giving their first billed concert in 1979. The group performs early Engl ...

and has an extensive discography. Purves featured on the CD cover as Figaro in

Opera in English The history of opera in the English language commences in the 17th century. Earliest examples In England, one of opera's antecedents in the 16th century was an afterpiece which came at the end of a play; often scandalous and consisting in the mai ...

's release of Mozart's '' The Marriage of Figaro'' in 2004. He was one of the artists on the ''Lamenti'' recital (Virgin Classics) which won Record of the Year in 2009 at France's Victoires de la musique classique. He premiered the role of Protector in George Benjamin's 2012 opera, '' Written on Skin'', and the role of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

in Philip Glass's 2013 opera '' The Perfect American''. In 2016, Purves was the bass soloist in Beethoven's Ninth at the

Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

and later in the year played the title character in '' Don Giovanni'' with ENO.

Background

A choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, Purves went on to become a member of retro close harmony group

Harvey and the Wallbangers Harvey and the Wallbangers were a 1980s jazz vocal harmony group, playing major festivals and the main Concert Halls in Europe and the UK, such as the Royal Albert Hall, Sadler's Wells, The Forum, Ronnie Scotts and the Berlin Tempodrom. The ...

Selected discography

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...

: ''Leçons de Ténèbres'' - ''Office du Mercredi Saint,'' H.120, H.138, H.141, H.117, H.131, H.126 and ''Miserere'' H.173 - C. Greuillet, C. Pelon, C. Purves, Gérard Lesne, Il Seminario Musicale ''-'' Virgin Classics, CD 5451072 (1995). * George Frideric Handel: ''Finest Arias for Base Voice'', Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen,

Hyperion Records Hyperion Records is an independent British classical record label. History Hyperion is an independent British classical label that was established in 1980 with the goal of showcasing recordings of music in all genres and from all time period ...

(2013)

References

External links

"Christopher Purves interview: From doo-wop to new opera"

Rupert Christiansen Rupert Christiansen (born 1954) is an English writer, journalist and critic. Life and career Born in London, Christiansen is the grandson of Arthur Christiansen (former editor of the '' Daily Express'') and son of Kay and Michael Christiansen (for ...

, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', 2 March 2013.
"Christopher Purves website"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purves, Christopher English operatic baritones Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English bass-baritones Operatic bass-baritones 20th-century British male opera singers 21st-century British male opera singers Year of birth missing (living people) Choristers of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge