Evangelist, Bach St Matthew Passion
English Chamber Orchestra, Birmingham Symphony Hall
"Christopher Gillett as the gripping Evangelist... particularly outstanding.”
Birmingham Post, March 2008
Arnalta in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea
English National Opera / cond. Laurence Cummings / dir. Chen Shi-Zheng
"Christopher Gillett sang with model clarity and displayed a lovely pair of pins in the cross-dressing role of Arnalta."
Richard Morrison, The Times, October 2007
"Christopher Gillett's drag Arnalta turns the lullaby into the evening's musical high-water mark"
Andrew Clark, Financial Times, October 2007
Arnalta in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea
LA Opera/ cond. Harry Bicket/ dir. Pierre Audi
"Christopher Gillett proved wonderfully sympathetic in drag as Poppea's old nurse, Arnalta. You wouldn't think you could do "camp" without overdoing "camp," but Gillett manages the trick, thanks in part to his strong and seductive tenor"
LA Downtown News, December 2006
Henze Voices with London Sinfonietta at the BBC Proms / cond. Oliver Knussen
"a blistering performance…Christopher Gillett was the elegant tenor soloist."
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, August 2006
"Christopher Gillett gave a committed and often sensitive performance - his singing in the Richard W. Thomas poem The Worker was intensely moving."
Ben Hogwood, MusicOMH.com, August 2006
"Christopher Gillett is a rising star in the performance of 20th-century music. His precise, mellifluous delivery was perfectly suited to the many numbers that draw to a greater or lesser extent on the German Lied tradition."
Steve Lomas, ClassicalSource.com, August 2006
"Soloists Mary King and Christopher Gillett could not be faulted for commitment and characterization."
Nick Kimberley, The Evening Standard, August 2006
"The vocalists themselves, Mary King and Christopher Gillett, have to do everything that any self-respecting performer of the 1960s always had to do: speak, shout, scream and sing. Words twanged against the tense rhythms of guitar and accordion as Gillett took on Brecht. Both soloists rhapsodised in Hans Magnus Enzensberger's final love-fest, Carnival of Flowers."
Hilary Finch, The Times, August 2006
Britten Nocturne for Tenor and Chamber Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra / cond. Oliver Knussen
“There are many vocal pleasures from tenor Christopher Gillett’s well-enunciated reading and dignified emotionalism.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer , November 2003
Title role in Britten Albert Herring
Northern Sinfonia / cond. Steuart Bedford
(re-released on Naxos 8 660107/8, recorded on Collins Classics 70422 in 1997
“Bedford’s lively set is a delight. It has the advantage of a winning young Albert in Christopher Gillett, vulnerable and touching.”
Richard Fairman, Gramophone, June 2003
Evangelist in Bach St Matthew Passion
Bach Choir / Florilegium / cond. David Hill
“Christopher Gillett’s dramatic but sincere interpretation of the Evangelist was utterly riveting.”
Brian Hunt, Evening Standard, April 2003
Knussen Canticum Sacrum
BBC National Orchestra of Wales / cond. Joseph Swensen
“Soloists Christopher Gillett and David Wilson-Johnson had their own forthright splendour.”
Geoff Brown, The Times, August 2001
Britten War Requiem
Radio Filharmonisch Orkest
“Together with the baritone Quentin Hayes, Christopher Gillett forms a moving unity, especially in the final movement.”
Door Mischa Spel, NEL, June 2001
“Gillett sings with much feeling and empathy, especially in “Move him into the sun”.”
Peter van der Lint, Trouw, June 2001
Henze Voices
London Sinfonietta / cond. Oliver Knussen
“Soloists Fiona Kimm and Christopher Gillett ensured that each setting was a succinct, self-contained drama.”
Tom Service, The Guardian, March 2001
Evangelist in Bach St Matthew Passion
The Bach Choir / cond. David Hill
“As Evangelist, Christopher Gillett’s tenor proved to be a dramatic asset.”
Nicholas Williams, The Independent, April 2000
Britten War Requiem
Stuttgarter Philharmoniker / cond. Helmuth Rilling
“Gillett took the comtemporary relevance of the poems as an occasion for an astonishing performance.”
Jürgen Leukel, Stuttgart Zeitung, October 1999
Arbace in Mozart Idomeneo
Opera Northern Ireland / cond. Stephen Barlow / dir. Harry Silverstein
“Christopher Gillett’s fine Arbace was rewarded with his (often omitted) aria.”
Elizabeth Forbes, Opera Now, January / February 1998
Title role in Britten Albert Herring
Northern Sinfonia / cond. Steuart Bedford
(recorded on Collins Classics 70422, re-released on Naxos 8 660107/8)
“The cast is carefully chosen. Christopher Gillett is an impressive Albert with an inner strength that makes his rebellion credible.”
Michael Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph, December 1997