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 Michael Robin Christiansen (7 April 1927 – 12 June 1984) was a British newspaper editor. The son of Arthur Christiansen, editor of the ''Daily Express'', Michael followed his father into journalism."Obituary: Mirror Editor", ''The Guardian'', 16 ...

(former editor of the ''Sunday'' and'' Daily Mirror''). He was educated at Millfield and

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, where he took a

double first The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

in English. As a Fulbright scholar, he also attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

from 1977 to 1978. He was hired by

Rodney Milnes Rodney Milnes Blumer OBE (26 July 1936 – 5 December 2015) was an English music critic, musicologist, writer, translator and broadcaster, with a particular interest in opera.Rodney Milnes. ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan ...

as a reviewer for ''Opera'' magazine, and then took over Milnes' column in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

''. He went on to write for many other newspapers and periodicals, including '' Harper's and Queen'', '' Vanity Fair'', ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' and ''

Literary Review ''Literary Review'' is a British literary magazine founded in 1979 by Anne Smith, then head of the Department of English at the University of Edinburgh. Its offices are on Lexington Street in Soho. The magazine was edited for fourteen years by v ...

'', all of them British or American. He has written a number of books, winning the

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...

in 1988 for ''Romantic Affinities''. His memoir I ''Know you're Going to be Happy'' won the Spear's Memoir of the Year prize in 2013. Formerly arts editor of ''Harper's and Queen'' and deputy arts editor of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', he became opera critic and arts columnist of ''

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 ...

'' and dance critic of ''

The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...

'' in 1996. Christiansen sits on the editorial board of ''Opera'' magazine. In 2010, he was appointed to the international jury of the Birgit Nilsson Prize. In 2022, he was appointed dance critic of'The Spectator'and was Dramaturg for Dickie Beau's Showmanism! at the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal, Bath. Christiansen was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1997. Between 2014 and 2016, he was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

, and since 2016 he has been Collaborating Research Scholar at Keble College, Oxford, where he also teaches. Formerly a board member of the Charleston Trust (1995–2010) and Gate Theatre (1993–2012), he was appointed to the boards of the

Cambridge Arts Theatre Cambridge Arts Theatre is a 666-seat theatre on Peas Hill and St Edward's Passage in central Cambridge, England. The theatre presents a varied mix of drama, dance, opera and pantomime. It attracts some of the highest-quality touring productions ...

and Shadwell Opera in 2016. In 2009, he entered a

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

with the architectural critic Ellis Woodman. He lives in London. Christiansen stood down as opera critic of ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 2020., but continues to write for the paper as a book reviewer and commentator on the arts.

Books

* ''The Complete Book of Aunts'' (2006) * ''Faber Pocket Guide to Opera'' (2002; revised 2014) * ''Once More, with Feeling! A Book of Classic Hymns & Carols'' (2007) * ''Romantic Affinities: Portraits From an Age, 1780–1830'' (1988) * ''Paris Babylon: Grandeur, Decadence and Revolution 1869–75''Bernstein, Richard
"Unconventional History Of the Paris Commune"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 15 March 1995 (review of ''Paris Babylon: Grandeur, Decadence and Revolution'') (1995); UK edition: ''Tales of the New Babylon: Paris, 1869-75'' (1994) * ''The Voice of Victorian Sex: Arthur H Clough 1819–1861'' (2001) * ''The Visitors: Culture Shock in 19th Century Britain'' (2000) * ''

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

: The Mystery of the World's Greatest Playwright'' (2003) * ''

Prima Donna In opera or commedia dell'arte, a prima donna (; Italian for "first lady"; plural: ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage per ...

: A History'' (1984) * ''The Grand Obsession – An Anthology of Opera'' (1988) * ''I Know You're Going to be Happy: A Story of Love and Betrayal'' (2013) * ''City of Light: The Reinvention of Paris'' (2018) * ''Diaghilev's Empire: How the Ballets Russes enthralled the World (2022)

References

External links

Rupert Christiansen
on

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

Rupert Christiansen in conversation with Scott Simon
''Weekend Edition'', 15 December 2007
Rupert Christiansen's blog
on the Charles Dickens novel '' Great Expectations'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Christiansen, Rupert English writers Living people Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Opera critics 1954 births