{{Short description|English singer (born 1961)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{infobox musical artist | birth_place = Cambridge, England | occupation = Bass-baritone singer | instrument = Vocals | genre = Opera, rock | associated_acts = Opera North<br />The Sixteen<br />English National Opera<br />Harvey and the Wallbangers }} '''Christopher Watt Purves''' (born 11 October 1961) is an English bass-baritone.
==Early life== Purves was born in Cambridge, the youngest of the four sons of Dr Michael Jarvie Purves and his wife Dr Jean Purves,<ref>[https://purvisfamilytree.com/getperson.php?personID=I8762&tree=purvis Christopher Watt Purves], purvisfamilytree.com, accessed 27 March 2023</ref><ref>"Christopher W Purves" in ''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007'': Oct-Nov-Dec 1960 / Cambridge / Mother's Maiden Name: Stevens /Volume: 4a / Page 375"</ref> both physicians.<ref>"Purves (Mrs) Hilda Jean MB BS 1953 (formerly Stevens)", "Purves, Michael Jarvie MB BS 1954", ''The Medical Register'' Part 2 (1985), p. 2960</ref> He sang as a boy treble in the choir of King's College, Cambridge,<ref name=EJ>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.)"</ref> where he was later a choral scholar, studying English literature.<ref name=OR/> 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 was another contemporary.<ref name=EJ/>
He graduated BA in 1983, promoted to MA in 1987.<ref>"PURVES Christopher Watt K BA83 MA87" in ''Cambridge University List of Members'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 639</ref> After leaving Cambridge, Purves joined the close harmony group Harvey and the Wallbangers.<ref name=OR>[https://opera-rara.com/artist/christopher-purves "Christopher Purves"], opera-rara.com, accessed 27 March 2023</ref>
==Career== Purves sang with Opera North in several productions in the seasons 1997 to 2004 and later. He performed with The Sixteen 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'' 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 in Philip Glass'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'' with ENO.
==Personal life== In 1993, Purves married Edwina Vernon, company manager at the English National Opera, and they set up home in a flat in Stoke Newington. They have three children and later moved to Oxford,<ref>Julian Flanagan, "From Harvey and the Wallbangers to Covent Garden: Christopher Purves interviewed", ''The Spectator'', 1 June 2013</ref> where Edwina Vernon became a music teacher at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Headington. In 2011, readers of ''Oxford Mail'' voted her teacher of the year.<ref>[https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9154170.star-teacher-pupils-sing-praises-musical-miss/ "STAR TEACHER: Pupils sing praises of their musical Miss"], ''Oxford Mail'', 22 July 2011, accessed 27 March 2023</ref>
==Selected discography== * Marc-Antoine Charpentier: ''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: ''Finest Arias for Bass Voice'', Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen, Hyperion Records (2013)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://theartsdesk.com/opera/theartsdesk-qa-bass-baritone-christopher-purves-communicating-everything-handel-george "Q&A: bass-baritone Christopher Purves on communicating everything from Handel to George Benjamin"], theartsdesk.com, 28 June 2022 * [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/9898434/Christopher-Purves-interview-From-doo-wop-to-new-opera.html "Christopher Purves interview: From doo-wop to new opera"], Rupert Christiansen, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 2 March 2013
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Purves, Christopher}} Category:English operatic baritones Category:Living people Category:Date of birth missing (living people) Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Category:English bass-baritones Category:British operatic bass-baritones Category:20th-century English male opera singers Category:21st-century British male opera singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:1961 births Category:Choristers of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge