Christopher Ventris

Christopher Ventris, born 1965, in London, is a British tenor. He is particularly known for his role as Parsifal which he has performed over 100 times including performances at the Bayreuth Festival during the 2008, 2009, and 2010 Festival seasons.[1]

Ventris studied at the Royal Academy of Music, studying with Joy Mammen. He appeared there in the title-role of Orpheus in the Underworld, where one critic, though commenting that "North-country speech and standard pronunciation in song do not go well together in operetta", otherwise found "Ventris was a true-voiced and likeable Orpheus".[2]

After college he joined Glyndebourne Festival Opera winning the GTO Singers and John Christie awards. He went on to sing with other British companies, including Opera North and English National Opera. He sang the part of Robert Lonle in the first performance of Robert Saxton's Caritas and the combined role of Walter, Hugo and the old woman in the first performance of Judith Weir's opera Blond Eckbert. He was the 2007 recipient of the Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year Award, presented annually by Dallas Opera to the singer who makes the biggest impact on voting patrons in his or her company debut, for the role of Lohengrin.[3]

Ventris' engagements[4] include productions at the Vienna State Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Royal Opera, London, the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, La Fenice, Venice, La Scala, Milan, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Grand Théâtre de Genève in Geneva and the Bavarian State Opera.

Roles

Ventris's roles include:

Selected recordings

References

  1. ^ "Bayreuther Festspiele » English » Programme » Performance Database » Person". Archived from the original on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  2. ^ Arthur Jacobs. School Performances : Orpheus in the Underworld, Royal Academy of Music, November 29. Opera, February 1985, Vol.30, No.2, p245-6.
  3. ^ Matthew Westphal, Tenor Christopher Ventris Wins 2007 Maria Callas Award from Dallas Opera, Playbill Arts, 25 May 2007
  4. ^ "Schedule on Artist Management Zurich". Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2008.