Christopher Ventris portrait by Matthias Baus

©Photo: Matthias Baus

Christopher Ventris

Tenor

Discography

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Christopher Ventris 2425 biography English

“Christopher Ventris produces a fresh, blossoming tenor, a Siegmund at the height of his vocal powers.”
(Die Presse)

A renowned Wagnerian, tenor Christopher Ventris was the pre-eminent Siegmund and Parsifal of his generation, performing on every major international stage and immortalising many of his acclaimed roles on disc along the way. Across a glittering career now spanning more than three decades, Ventris has collaborated with today’s most celebrated conductors and directors and been in high demand from all corners of the globe.

Central to Ventris’ enduring success is a musicality and versatility that has brought him exceptional success in recent seasons as Britten’s Peter Grimes, Tambour’ Major in Berg’s Wozzeck, Jimmy Mahoney in Kurt Weill’s Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Laca in Janáček’s Jenůfa and Loge in Das Rheingold.

Highlights of an enviably high-profile career include Ventris’ debut in the role of Prince Andrey Khovansky (Khovanshchina) at Wiener Staatsoper under Semyon Bychkov, his first performances at Teatro alla Scala as Max (Der Freischütz), innumerous productions as Sergei (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) including in Geneva, Madrid, London and Brussels, and unanimously acclaimed portrayals of Peter Grimes at both Opernhaus Zürich and Deutsche Oper Berlin. One of Ventris’ many productions at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden was Martinů’s The Greek Passion in which he sang the role of Manolios; he portrayed the title role of Pfitzner’s Palestrina at Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper and sang Jimmy Mahoney in new productions at Berliner Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich and Wiener Staatsoper.

His debut at the Metropolitan Opera was as Steva in Janáček’s Jenůfa, recently giving an acclaimed portrayal as Laca in the same piece in Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production at Opernhaus Zürich, and he returned to New York in the 2019/20 season in his role debut as Tambour’ Major (Wozzeck), conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin in William Kentridge’s iconic production. Wozzeck has since become a regular feature of his seasons with further performances at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia under James Gaffigan, in concert with Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons in Boston, and at Carnegie Hall and the Verbier Festival under Lahav Shani, broadcast on Medici.tv.

Following his acclaimed Bayreuther Festspiele debut as Parsifal in Stefan Herheim’s new production (Daniele Gatti), Ventris gave countless performances in the role including at Wiener Staatsoper (under both Franz Welser-Möst and Semyon Bychkov), Bayerische Staatsoper (Kent Nagano), Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Bernard Haitink), Opéra national de Paris (Hartmut Haenchen), San Francisco Opera (Donald Runnicles) and at Opernhaus Zürich (Haitink), the latter portrayal immortalised on DVD. As Siegmund (Die Walküre), Ventris appeared at Wiener Staatsoper (Sir Simon Rattle), Bayreuther Festspiele, (Marek Janowski), Semperoper Dresden (Christian Thielemann), Washington National Opera (Philippe Auguin), Dutch National Opera (Marc Albrecht), with Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Fabio Luisi, and he features on a live recording from Wiener Staatsoper (Thielemann).

Christopher Ventris sang the title role of Rienzi under Philippe Jordan at Salzburger Festspiele, made his role debut as Tannhäuser under Sir Mark Elder at Opéra national de Paris, appeared as Lohengrin at Grand Théâtre de Genève, Teatro Real Madrid and The Dallas Opera and made an acclaimed debut in Tristan und Isolde at Théâtre de la Monnaie under Music Director Alain Altinoglu.