Christopher Purves News

Opening the London Handel Fetsival, this flawless presentation of Saul was a celebration of Handel that set the tone of the performances to follow. The acoustics in the hall were exceptional, with clear enunciation throughout and a sense of occasion.

How many faces can a single aria reveal? In this session, the Opera Studio explores how interpretation, emotion, and stage presence can completely reshape a performance. 

Just how much fun can you have at an oratorio about a Old Testament tale of jealousy, madness and death? Well, quite a lot as it happens at the return of Barry Kosky's remarkable production of Handel's Saul. This staging is opera at its most theatrical, with severed heads, a breast-feeding witch, a gay subplot and more twerking than a Beyoncé concert.

ARIANA MATER, the opera by Kaija Saariaho, who died last summer at 70, won this year's Grammy for Best Opera Recording, for the Deutsche Grammophon recording issued last August. With its libretto by Amin Maalouf, the production by Peter Sellars features the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus under Esa-Pekka Salonen and mezzo Fleur Barron in the title role.

It's music's biggest night! Sabrina Carpenter, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Chappell Roan, Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars, and more took home awards at The 67th Annual GRAMMYs, now available to rewatch on Paramount+. Check out the full list of GRAMMY winners here!

Aaron Lazar, Barbra Streisand, Ariana Grande more were nominated for GRAMMYS. Check out the full list of nominations now! The Outsiders, Suffs and more were nominated in the Best Musical Theatre Album category.

The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts revealed the 228 nominations for the 44th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards. See the full list!

Glyndebourne's first ever production of Wagner's epic final opera Parsifal will be staged at Glyndebourne Festival 2025. Featuring a cast of nearly 200 performers and orchestra, this production will be a landmark moment in the company's 90 year history. 

Watch a spooky tour complete with opera ghost stories in this video from the Royal Opera House here!

The nights are getting shorter, the swimming trunks are being packed away and you probably have bought some new pens and pencils. September is here and promises some amazing theatre to come. Check out our top ten recommendations for theatre in London this month.

The Royal Opera House has announced that its next Cinema Season will comprise of 13 productions, eight of which will be broadcast to screens across the globe. The programme offers audiences the best seat in the house – sharing the joy of live performance, and the beauty of world class art, with cinema goers in more than 50 countries around the world.  

On June 8, 10 & 11, 2023, Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony are joined by acclaimed director Peter Sellars for a new staged production of Kaija Saariaho's Adriana Mater, an intensely moving work to a libretto of Amin Maalouf, which explores the relationship between a mother and her son as they navigate a world rumbling with the threat of violence.

The Royal Opera House has announced its 2023/24 Season, unveiling a bold programme of thrilling new work, UK premieres and much-loved revivals, alongside the biggest national learning programme in our history, exciting new regional partnerships, and a host of daytime events, behind the scenes tours, exhibitions and artistic Insights at our home in the heart of Covent Garden. 

The Canadian Opera Company announced its 2023/2024 season today featuring a slate of exciting new productions and rare musical gems.

Placido Domingo has announced the company's 2019/20 season. The season will include six mainstage operas, one musical, one recital and one concert presented at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, with additional performances presented in other venues through the company's Off Grand initiative.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present its 2019-20 season with a broad repertoire of operas in productions that have never been seen by Houston audiences. The 65th season will open October 18, 2019, with Verdi's classic Rigoletto. Tomer Zvulun returns to direct the season opener after successfully opening the 2018-19 season with his production of The Flying Dutchman. American baritone Brian Mulligan sings his first Rigoletto leading an outstanding cast filled with renowned HGO Studio alumni, including Mexican tenor Arturo Chacon-Cruz as the Duke of Mantua and Armenian soprano Mane Galoyan as Gilda. Paired with Rigoletto is the North American  premiere of the dramatic oratorio Saul in a much-lauded and imaginative production by Barrie Kosky. Christopher Purves returns to the title role after his celebrated performance at the Glyndebourne Festival and is joined by countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen and Korean soprano Pureum Jo, both HGO Studio alumni.

Stefan Herheim, one of Europe's most exciting directors, makes his company debut with Glyndebourne's first new production of Pelleas in nearly 20 years. Check out production photos below!

Stefan Herheim, one of Europe's most exciting directors, makes his company debut with Glyndebourne's first new production of Pelléas in nearly 20 years.

Norfolk & Norwich Festival has today announced the full programme for its 2018 Festival (11 - 27 May). The programme, which spans performance, theatre, music, visual arts, literature, circus, outdoor and family events, includes world and UK premieres, one-off spectaculars, and a host of free events across the Festival. The Festival will showcase renowned international artists from across the globe and countries as widespread as Syria, Australia and India, alongside the best local Norfolk and UK talent presented across the county, from Norwich city centre and Great Yarmouth to Wells-next-the-Sea.

It's just about time to wish you all a happy 2018--but I'm not quite ready to put 2017 to rest. Though it won't go into the annals as one of the best years ever, there were quite enough performances and performers that made this year a winner for me, operatically speaking at least, in my corner of the world.