Christopher Goldsack
A physics graduate of Cambridge University, Christopher
Goldsack studied voice with David Pollard and Rudolf Piernay at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama and then at the Lyon Opera
Studio. Awards have included first prize at the 1990 Toulouse
International Singing Competition, prizes for French song on several
occasions at the Concours
Triptyque in Paris and the Grand Prix Paul Derennes at the 1992
Concours de Paris. He was acting Head of Voice at the London College of Music and now gives masterclasses on French song at the
Guildhall School of Music, and has also given some at the Royal Academy of Music. He is frequently asked to judge singing competitions - most recently at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and he has also been on the jury for the
Concours de
Paris and the Concours Triptyque.
Widely acclaimed as a baritone, Christopher has more recently been singing tenor repertoire. This has been an
enjoyable episode, and he has now sung to acclaim in numerous oratorios as a tenor, such as Handel's Messiah and Mendelssohn's Elijah.
... Christopher in an early role as Count Valerio.
Christopher has a very extensive experience as a performer
of opera. As a student at the Guildhall opera school he sang the
roles of Don Alvaro in Rossini's Il viaggio a Riems, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Count Valerio in Thea Musgrave's The Voice of Ariadne and Count Asdrubale in Rossini's
La pietra del paragone. In Lyon, speaking fluent French, he was readily
incorporated into several of Lyon Opéra's productions,
including Dialogues des Carmélites, Salome
in which he recorded the Slave for Virgin Classics, and
Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges singing the Grandfather Clock
and Cat in extensive tours of
France, South America, Germany and Belgium in a production which was
then filmed for video release. Later that year he covered the role of
Pelléas for English National Opera, a role he has also covered for the Glyndebourne Festival. Other roles have included Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus
and Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale for Welsh National Opera and Masino in Haydn's
La vera costanza for Garsington Opera.
More recently he has sung Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Escamillo in Carmen
for Singapore Lyric Theatre, L'Enfant et les Sortilèges for the French National Theatre in Tarbes and Bordeaux,
Marcello in La Bohème for Crystal Clear Opera and Figaro in
Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Interludes. For Opera Brava he has sung the Count
in The Marriage of Figaro in the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Marcello, and for European
Chamber Opera his roles have included Dandini in La Cenerentola and Dr. Malatesta in the Holland Park Festival, Dr. Falke
in Die Fledermaus and also Marcello. He has also sung Dandini for
Dublin Grand Opera. He has covered principal roles at Scottish Opera
and Opera North, going on twice as Henri in Chabrier's
The Relucant King, and for the Royal Opera House he covered in Ghoer's
Arianna and Ned Keene in Peter Grimes. He has participated in
many world premieres including
the roles of Pontius Pilate in Darryl Way's The Master and Margarita, the Husband
in G. P. Cribari's Las Escondidas and roles in Missa e combattimento
by Monteverdi/Judith Weir in Antwerp, a work in which he
made his debut with the Théâtre de la Monnaie in
Brussels. He was also involved in the recording of a CD of opera
highlights for Opera Interludes.
Christopher as Eisenstein, trying to impress the ladies with his watch...
Christopher has an extensive oratorio repertoire and has
most recently performed Bach's St John Passion, B minor mass
and cantata Ich habe genug in Winchester Cathedral, Verdi's Requiem, Beethoven's
9th Symphony, Duruflé's Requiem, Rossini's
Petite messe Solennelle, Schubert's Mass in A flat, Handel's Messiah
, Orff's Carmina Burana, Duruflé's Requiem and Fauré's
Requiem. Other works in his repertoire include Brahm's
German Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah
and Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony.
An experienced recital singer, Christopher has a special
affinity for French song. In Lyon he appeared with the orchestra of
the Opéra singing Poulenc's cantata Le bal masqué. Recital venues have included Verona, Lyon, Paris,
Perpignan, Cambridge, Newcastle and Warwick. He performs widely with
his wife, mezzo-soprano Janet Shell, with whom he has toured major
venues throughout South America. In London they have sung at Saint
Martin in the Fields and the Speaker's Hall in the Houses of
Parliament. They have appeared twice on Classic FM whilst he has also
recorded a solo BBC Radio 3 recital of French songs and another of
South American songs.
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