LETTERS OF A LOVE BETRAYED     MUSIC THEATRE WALES AND ROH2

Christopher Steele as his son Luis showed a fine talent and a fine tenor          

Della Couling Opera Now

I especially enjoyed the performance of tenor Christopher Steele, who took the role of Luis - his voice is rich, and his top notes, even when they teetered on the brink of his range, excited me.             

Dave Paxton        www.whatsonstage.com

..fine performances from Jonathan May, who plays the girl's uncle, Eugenio, and Christopher Steele as the loutish Luis…    

Laura Battle              Financial Times

 Fine performances also come from Christopher Steele as the dreadful cousin….  

Richard Morrison    The Times

 As his psychotic son Luis, Christopher Steele had a good line in whining, offended Latin macho pride and threw himself around the stage with abandon.                                                      www.classicalsource.com

 

LA BOHEME Mid Wales Opera

 

Rodolfo - wonderfully sung and sympathetically acted by Christopher Steele.   Western Mail

Christopher Steele and Rebecca von Lipinski....Both acquitted themselves magnificently in the famous lyric roles and well-known arias.   Gloucestershire Echo                                                

One of the lasting memories of this performance will be the sense of seamless continuity by the whole cast, but particularly Christopher Steele, whose voice had power and penetration without ever appearing forced   Shrewsbury Chronicle

Particularly notable was the ringing Italianate tone of Chris Steele's tenor as Rodolfo.... he has charisma and charm.   Camden new journal / Islington tribune

TALES OF HOFFMAN Mid Wales Opera

Christopher Steele made a convincingly torured, robustly sung Hoffman.

David Hart, Birmingham Mail

CAMACHO'S WEDDING Buxton Festival

Christopher Steele revealed a natural talent for comedy as Vivaldo

www.citylife.co.uk

THE BARTERED BRIDE Mid Wales Opera

Christopher Steele discovered in Victor a personality both strangely dignified and utterly ridiculous, so that one could be moved to both pity and laughter, as well as to pleasure in his eventual liberation from his mother's control.        http://www.musicweb-international.com/

Also delightful and engaging was the Victor from Christopher Steele who, while indeed a comic character, had you loving him as well as pitying him until we eventually celebrate his finding his own way despite an overbearing mother.     Western Mail

Christopher Steele's Vasek was also nicely drawn.  Rian Evans Opera Magazine

EUGENE ONEGIN  Opera Nomade, France

...the tenor Christopher Steele, a marvellous lensky... he sings superbly. At the end of his aria the public were completely conquered and kept perfectly silent having been brought into the drama.  All unified to remember a death the composer would not have scorned. admirable scene, perfect in this red and cruel decor.     Le Telegramme

Notably... Christopher Steele, so appealing in his grand aria before the duel.       Ouest FranceAn

TURN OF THE SCREW English Touring Opera and Opera Theatre Company, Ireland

Christopher Steele is a vocally striking Peter Quint.              The Guardian

Best of the Singers was Steele as Peter Quint.                      Opera Magazine

...the flesh and blood ghosts beautifully sung by Christopher Steele and Catherine Griffiths.                                                                                        Opera Now

...ghostly Peter Quint with liquid tenor tone that can produce vocal claws when things turn nasty. The Irish Times

THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA     British Youth Opera

The standard is set by the tenor CS as the Male Chorus delivering every word as if it mattered… with admirably even, compassionate tone. The Guardian

..and Christopher Steele (an exceptionally lucid tenor) put these crucial roles across forcefully... The Independent

.. clear diction as the male chorus... formed an ideal framework to the central action. The Times

I liked the Male and female chorus, fluently and clearly sung by CS and CC. The Sunday Telegraph

MESSIAH Crowborough Choral Society

Christopher Steele's lambent tenor too, relayed his part of the story with grace and delicacy - and perfect intonation and diction.   David Inman

 

RECITAL Die Schone Mullerin

Christopher Steele has an excellent voice for this music, lyrical but with a touch of the heroic, which gives a dramatic edge when necessary. What's more, he sings his own beautiful, poetic English translation of the song texts. It's wonderful to hear these works in this direct and accessible form.       Amanda Holden.

Australian tenor, Christopher Steele, gave a highly pleasurable recital in Canberra last Saturday night while home on a short visit. There was more than just a personal interest in his performance, for he has also been working on a new English translation of Schubert's lovely song-cycle Die Schone Mullerin, and his programme was devoted to the first Australian performance of this translation.

To those familiar with the original German poems by Wilhelm Muller it was an interesting aural experience. The translations have obviously not only been approached with keen appreciation of the original, but also with considerable skill in capturing the naive and wistful character of Muller's poems.

From audience comments there was pleasure in being able to follow the words without having to read a translation as the songs were being sung. To be successful, an English translation demands of the singer clear and well modulated diction, and happily that is what Steele was able to provide throughout.

From the carefree mood of the opening song 'To wander', through the expression of the young miller's growing love to the overflowing joyousness of the eleventh song 'Mine!', the singer was able to convey the changing emotions of the poems. This continued in the second half of the song cycle.

This was a most engaging recital that offered an appreciative audience warm musical delights.  Canberra Times WL Hoffman Feb 12 2006