Haymarket Opera opens season with Chicago debut of an excavated “Ester”

CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW

Bass-baritone Christian Pursell capably portrayed Aman’s cartoonish villainy, with a huge, resonant voice and beautiful diction that underlined the character’s declarations of violence. Throughout the performance, his committed physicality lent a modicum of humor to the character to soften the impact of his stentorian vocal delivery.

LANDON HEGEDUS

MasterVoices 2025 Review: Blind Injustice

OPERA WIRE

Christian Pursell was potent in his opening aria, his singing thunderous as he proclaimed his credo with confidence, the voice booming into the hall. And he retained this directness throughout every one of his interjections. There was an aggressiveness throughout his performance that matched the authoritarian depiction of the Prosecution lawyer and was neatly counterpointed by Joshua Dennis’ more gentle vocalism.

DAVID SALAZAR

MasterVoices’ “Blind Injustice” lifts up the wrongly convicted with eclectic music

NEW YORK CLASSICAL REVIEW

Bass-baritone Christian Pursell’s Prosecutor was all fury and inner conflict, his tight dark suit and briefcase fairly bursting with accusations as he resonantly defended his right to “do my job,” but ultimately confessed to doubts about what he had done.

DAVID WRIGHT

REVIEW: Cincinnati Opera’s production of ‘Don Giovanni’ balances tragedy, comedy

CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER

Bass-baritone Christian Pursell, who earned a master’s degree at CCM, performed the role of Leporello, Giovanni’s servant and general clean-up man. His performance was often hilariously funny, and he wielded an excellent voice, to boot. His Act I “Catalog” Aria, in which Leporello describes the more than 2,000 amorous conquests of his master, was engagingly sung.

JANELLE GELFAND

Margaret Lattimore’s Ma Joad powers the MasterVoices Chorus’s The Grapes of Wrath

SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Her boys ranged from Kyle Oliver’s sensitive Tom, an idealist with a criminal past transformed into union organizer; John Brancy’s engaging, fun-loving Al; and the slow-witted Noah of Christian Pursell. All three of these singing actors had firm, resonant voices and winning stage personas, but Pursell was given the meatiest scene to display his talents. A simpleton, who pretty much went with the flow, Pursell’s Noah slowly became aware that the only way he could help his family was to spare them one more mouth to feed. With a bass-baritone as commanding as his stature, Noah’s decision to commit suicide by drowning was as moving as it was horrible to watch.

RICK PERDIAN