Simon Leppe & Christopher Purvesr
Biographie Simon Leppe & Christopher Purvesr
Christopher Purvesr
has firmly established himself as one of the leading British baritones of his generation. Through his celebrated interpretations of a diverse and eclectic range of roles and repertoire, he is in great demand with many prestigious theatres around the world, working with orchestras, conductors and directors of the highest calibre. He started his musical life as a choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, and went on to become a member of experimental rock group Harvey and the Wallbangers.
Highlights of his 2022/23 season include Balstrode in Peter Grimes for the Bayerische Staatsoper, Father in Law in Kaija Saariaho Innocence for The Royal Opera House, and his return to Zurich Opera House as Alberich in Siegfried for their third instalment of Andreas Homoki’s new Ring Cycle. On the concert platform, Purves will perform Gruber Frankenstein with San Fransisco Symphony Orchestra and Haydn Die Schöpfung with Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recent operatic highlights have included the title role in Falstaff for Opéra National de Lyon in a revival of the new Barrie Kosky production for Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, staged performances of Handel Messiah for Opéra National de Lyon, Alberich Das Rheingold for Zurich Opera House, Balstrode in Deborah Warner’s production of Peter Grimes at Teatro Real conducted by Ivor Bolton, a return to the title role in Barrie Kosky’s production of Saul at the Théâtre du Châtelet and Houston Grand Opera, Méphistophélès in Richard Jones staging of Berlioz La Damnation de Faust , and Golaud in Stefan Herheim’s new production of Pelléas et Mélisande at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Creon in Ensecu Oedipe for Dutch National Opera and Opernhaus Zurich for Barrie Kosky’s production of Die Gezeichneten conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. Previous highlights include the title role in Richard Jones’ new production of Don Giovanni for English National Opera, The Protector Written on Skin for the Royal Opera House, title role in Barrie Kosky’s production of Saul at the Adelaide Festival, Alberich Götterdämmerung for Houston Grand Opera, Gamekeeper The Cunning Little Vixen and the title role Saul for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, his debut at the Opera de Paris in Schoenberg Moses und Aron, Alberich Götterdämmerung at the Bayerische Staatsoper and in Siegfried with Canadian Opera Company and Houston Grand Opera, title role Gianni Schicchi at Opera North, Sharpless Madama Butterfly in his house debut at Chicago Lyric Opera, Balstrode Peter Grimes at Teatro alla Scala and Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore at the Salzburger Festspiele.
On the concert platform, recent highlights include Beethoven Missa Solemnis with the Orchestra of Opéra de Rouen Normandie, Balstrode in Peter Grimes at The Enescu Festival, Protector in Written on Skin at La Biennale di Venezia, the title role in Bluebeard’s Castle with Opera North, the world premiere of The Anvil – An elegy for Peterloo with The BBC Philharmonic and Ben Gernon, a critically acclaimed Alberich in Das Rheingold with the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert, Peasant in Schoenberg Gurrelieder with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms, Acis and Galatea with La Nuova Musica, Mozart Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, St John Passion at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, St Matthew Passion with the Academy of Ancient Music, Elgar The Kingdom at the First Night of the BBC Proms with Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with Masaaki Suzuki and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig; a European tour of Handel’s Messiah with Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d’Astree. A keen recitalist, Purves works regularly with pianist Simon Lepper, and has appeared at the Aldeburgh Festival, Opera North and Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge.
Purves has a great affinity for contemporary repertoire and has created roles in a number of notable premieres, most recently singing Walt Disney in the world premiere of Phillip Glass’ The Perfect American at Teatro Real Madrid and ENO. He also premiered George Benjamin’s Written on Skin to widespread critical acclaim and for composer Sir James Macmillan, Purves has created roles in The Sacrifice at Welsh National Opera, Ines de Castro at Scottish Opera and Parthenogenesis at the Edinburgh International Festival.
Purves’ extensive discography includes the title role in Le nozze di Figaro for Chandos, Handel Messiah and Saul with Harry Christophers and The Sixteen, Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan and Ricci’s La Prigione di Edimburgo for Opera Rara, Written on Skin with George Benjamin and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra; and Mozart’s Requiem with Stephen Cleobury and the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. Early in 2018 Purves’ second volume of Handel’s Finest Arias for Base Voice, was released on Hyperion with Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen, to great critical acclaim, following the huge success of his debut solo disk in 2012.
Simon Leppe
read music at King’s College, Cambridge before studying piano accompaniment with Michael Dussek at the Royal Academy of Music and later with Ruben Lifschitz at the Fondation Royaumont. He is currently professor of collaborative piano and a vocal repertoire coach at the Royal College of Music, London where he also in charge of the collaborative piano course. Since 2003 he has been an official accompanist for the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. He has given masterclasses at the Mozarteum, Fondation Royaumont and La Chappelle, Belgium.
Performance highlights have included an invitation from the Wigmore Hall, London to present a three concert project on the songs of Joseph Marx; recital tours with Stéphane Degout which have included the Ravinia and Edinburgh Festivals and the opera houses of Bordeaux, Dijon, La Monnaie, Lausanne and Lyon; recitals at Carnegie Hall, New York with Karen Cargill and Sally Matthews and at the Frick Collection with Christopher Purves; performances of the Schubert song cycles with Gerald Finley and Mark Padmore including at the Schubertiade, Hohenhems, recitals with Christiane Karg at Frankfurt Opera, Schwarzenberg Schubertiade and the Rheingau Fesitval and recitals with Angelika Kirchschlager at the Verbier Festival and at the Wigmore Hall.
He has presented an all Schubert programme with Ilker Arcayürek in Barcelona, Zürich, New York (Park Armory), San Francisco and at the Wigmore Hall where further appearances have included recitals with Dame Felicity Palmer, Karen Cargill, Sally Matthews and Mark Padmore. With Benjamin Appl he toured to India including recitals in Mumbai and Chennai and gave the opening performance for the highest concert hall in the world in Shenzhen with Aida Garifulina. Future highlights include a European tour with Stéphane Degout, recitals at the Wigmore Hall with Sally Matthews and an American tour with Elizabeth Llewllyn
His discography includes a recital disc with Dame Felicity Palmer, 2 volumes of Debussy Songs and a Strauss disc with Gillian Keith, a disc of French Song and Mahler songs with Karen Cargill, the complete songs of Jonathan Dove with Kitty Whately and a CD of contemporary violin works with Carolin Widmann which received a Diapason d’or. Recent releases include the songs of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor with Elixabeth Llewellyn, a CD of Schubert songs with tenor Ilker Arcayürek, a disc of Ballads with Stéphane Degout as well as recital disc “Poèmes d’un jour” which was a Gramophone magazine editor’s choice. Future CD releases include a “Woman in Gold” fin-de-siécle Viennese songs sung by Robyn Allegra-Parton and a song CD with Christopher Purves.
