Christopher Watt Purves (born 11 October 1961) is an English

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three ...

Early life

Purves was born in Cambridge, the youngest of the four sons of Dr Michael Jarvie Purves and his wife Dr Jean Purves, both physicians. He sang as a boy treble in the choir of

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

,Erica Jeal, "Christopher Purves" in ''Opera'' (2009), vol. 60, p. 516, "Purves sings his first Falstaff at Glyndebourne this month... Home was Cambridge, where as a boy treble he sang in the choir of King's College. ... (Gerald Finley was the fellow bass of his year group: the tenor Mark Padmore was in the year above.)" where he was later a choral scholar, studying English literature. By the time he was a student, Purves was singing bass, alongside Gerald Finley, who was in the same year group. The tenor

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

was another contemporary. He graduated BA in 1983, promoted to MA in 1987. After leaving Cambridge, Purves joined the close harmony group Harvey and the Wallbangers."Christopher Purves"
opera-rara.com, accessed 27 March 2023

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 a ...

in several productions in the seasons 1997 to 2004 and

later Later may refer to: * Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the futur ...

. He performed with

The Sixteen The Sixteen (previously known as the Symphony of Harmony and Invention) are a British choir and period instrument orchestra. Founded by Harry Christophers, they started as an unnamed group of sixteen friends in 1977, giving their first bille ...

and has an extensive discography. Purves featured on the CD cover as Figaro in Opera in English's release of Mozart's ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienn ...

'' 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, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

's 2013 opera '' The Perfect American''. In 2016, Purves was the bass soloist in Beethoven's Ninth at the Proms and later in the year played the title character in ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'' with ENO.

Personal life

In 1993, Purves married Edwina Vernon, company manager at the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

, and they set up home in a flat in

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

. They have three children and later moved to

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, where Edwina Vernon became a music teacher at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston, Oxford, Marston to the north-west, Cowley, Oxfordshire ...

. In 2011, readers of ''

Oxford Mail ''Oxford Mail'' is a daily tabloid newspaper in Oxford, England, owned by Newsquest. It is published six days a week. It is a sister paper to the weekly tabloid ''The Oxford Times''. History The ''Oxford Mail'' was founded in 1928 by MP Fra ...

'' voted her teacher of the year."STAR TEACHER: Pupils sing praises of their musical Miss"
''

'', 22 July 2011, accessed 27 March 2023

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'' ''H.146, Marche en rondeau''. This theme is st ...

: ''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 George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

: ''Finest Arias for Base Voice'', Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen,

Hyperion Records Hyperion Records is a British classical music record label. It was independent until February 2023, when it was acquired by the Universal Music Group. Under Universal, Hyperion is one of the three main classical record labels, alongside Decca a ...

(2013)

References

External links

"Q&A: bass-baritone Christopher Purves on communicating everything from Handel to George Benjamin"
theartsdesk.com, 28 June 2022

Rupert Christiansen, ''

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

'', 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 English male opera singers 21st-century British male opera singers Grammy Award winners 1961 births Choristers of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge