Christopher Purves
Bass-baritone Christopher Purves has performed operatic roles from the Baroque to contemporary repertory and has sung choral music at the Proms and other major venues. His background is unusual in that it includes a substantial career in popular music with the doo-wop/jazz vocal group Harvey & the Wallbangers.
Purves was born on October 11, 1961, in Cambridge, England. He shared with many other classical performers the background of boy chorister and choral scholar at King's College, Cambridge. He majored in English at King's College and, after graduating, joined Harvey & the Wallbangers in 1983. In that group, he not only sang bass but also played the trumpet. He left the group as it was dissolving in 1987 and performed for a time as a freelance experimental vocalist, also taking on gigs as an additional vocalist for the best-selling chorus The Sixteen. In the 1990s, Purves began to find roles with touring opera companies. He told Rupert Christiansen of the Telegraph that he had received valuable advice from director Claire Venables while working on a production of Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen: "Stop trying to pretend to be someone you're not. Just do nothing."
From 1997 onward, Purves had recurring roles with Britain's Opera North company; his association with The Sixteen and its director, Harry Christophers, led to solo vocal appearances under top early music vocal conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe and Richard Hickox. He performed John Tavener's 140-minute Apocalypse at the Proms with the City of London Sinfonia. In later years, Purves has essayed major operatic bass and baritone roles, including Alberich in Wagner's Das Rheingold (at the Houston Grand Opera) and Verdi's Falstaff. He appeared in the 2010 film musical Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy). Purves was heard as Figaro on a 2004 Chandos recording of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and, in the 2010s, released two albums of Handel's bass (or "Base") arias with the early music ensemble Arcangelo and director Jonathan Cohen; the second volume appeared in 2018. The following year, Purves was heard as the bass soloist in conductor Martyn Brabbins' recording of Elgar's rarely heard cantata Caractacus, and he returned in 2023 on the recital My Soul, What Fear You? with pianist Simon Lepper.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discografia
10 álbum(ns) • Ordenado por Mais vendidos
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Handel: Finest Arias for Base (Bass) Voice, Vol. 1
Christopher Purves, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Classical - Lançado por Hyperion em 02/12/2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle, Christopher Purves, Karen Cargill, Bryan Hymel, Gabor Bretz
Full Operas - Lançado por LSO Live em 08/03/2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
My Soul, What Fear You?
Christopher Purves, Simon Lepper
Art Songs, Mélodies & Lieder - Lançado por Kings College Cambridge em 05/05/2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Finest Arias for Base (Bass) Voice, Vol. 2
Christopher Purves, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Classical - Lançado por Hyperion em 29/06/2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
WALTON: Belshazzar s Feast / Crown Imperial
Classical - Lançado por Naxos em 18/05/2004
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Biber: Laetatus sum
Nahuel di Pierro, Christopher Purves, Johannes Pramsohler, Ensemble Diderot
Cantatas (sacred) - Lançado por Audax Records em 28/05/2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Finest Arias for Base (Bass) Voice, Vol. 2
Christopher Purves, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Classical - Lançado por Hyperion em 29/06/2018
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ricci: La prigione di Edimburgo (Highlights)
Nuccia Focile, Elisabetta Scano, Nicola Rossi Giordano, Christopher Purves, Philharmonia Orchestra, Gabriele Bellini
Opera - Lançado por Opera Rara em 01/01/2004
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Finest Arias for Base (Bass) Voice, Vol. 1
Christopher Purves, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Classical - Lançado por Hyperion em 02/12/2012
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lutoslawski: Works for Voice and Orchestra
Edward Gardner, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Lucy Crowe, Toby Spence, Christopher Purves
Mélodies - Lançado por Chandos em 01/09/2011
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo