Biography
Christopher Moulds is a renowned conductor whose expertise and versatility make him a sought-after figure. Enjoying strong affiliations with opera houses including the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich and Opéra national du Rhin, Moulds commands a repertoire spanning from Monteverdi, Handel and Mozart to Humperdinck, Britten and Birtwistle.
This season, Moulds makes two Polish debuts, conducting Handel’s Messiah with the Kraków Philharmonic and Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans with Warsaw Chamber Opera. He appears again at the Staatsoper Berlin and Oper Köln for performances of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and at the Bayerische Staatsoper for Mozart’s Idomeneo and Gluck’s Orpheus.
In recent seasons, Moulds has led major productions across Europe including Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Staatsoper Berlin, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Così fan tutte at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Handel’s Orlando with both Opéra de Lausanne and Longborough Festival Opera, Handel’s Ariodante with Opéra national du Rhin, Die Zauberflöte in Essen, and Rameau’s Castor et Pollux at Staatstheater Meiningen.
His diverse engagements have included a return to San Francisco Opera for Handel’s Partenope; productions of Dido and Aeneas, Le nozze di Figaro and La Calisto at the Bayerische Staatsoper, where he also led Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria/Das Jahr des magischen Denkens as part of the Ja, Mai festival; and concert appearances with the Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse and the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also conducted Così fan tutte at the Opernhaus Zürich, and appeared regularly at Staatsoper Berlin with repertoire including La finta giardiniera, Così fan tutte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Le nozze di Figaro, Hänsel und Gretel, Punch and Judy and The Turn of the Screw. At Staatsoper Stuttgart he has conducted Le nozze di Figaro, Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride, and Alcina, the latter of which he also conducted at Staatsoper Hamburg.
In the symphonic domain, Moulds has collaborated with numerous prestigious orchestras, including Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Concerto Köln, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Wiener Symphoniker. A particular highlight was performing with Concentus Musicus Wien at the Internationale Barocktage Stift Melk. Other festival appearances include the Bregenz Festival, the Glyndebourne Tour with La finta giardiniera, the Händel Festspiele Halle, the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, and La clemenza di Tito with the Wiener Philharmoniker at the Salzburg Festival.
Particularly admired for his interpretations of Baroque repertoire, Moulds has conducted Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in a critically acclaimed co-production between the Royal Opera House and the Roundhouse, London, as well as Handel’s Semele at the Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe, Tamerlano and Orlando at the Bayerische Staatsoper, and Saul at Theater an der Wien with Freiburger Barockorchester (released on DVD). Other notable highlights include Castor et Pollux at the Komische Oper Berlin in Barrie Kosky’s production, and a return to Teatro Real Madrid for Sasha Waltz’s Dido and Aeneas and La Calisto.
Outside Europe, Moulds has conducted the Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra and Moscow Chamber Orchestra in Russia, with whom he performed Handel’s Ottone, Rodelinda, Tamerlano and Giulio Cesare. He has conducted numerous productions at the Bolshoi Theatre, including the Russian premiere of Rodelinda, and Dido and Aeneas, for which he received the Golden Mask Award for Best Conductor in 2021, as well as Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni. He has also conducted Semele with the Canadian Opera Company at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, and led Sasha Waltz’s Dido and Aeneas at the Sydney Festival, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.
Moulds began his career in 1991 as a member of the music staff at English National Opera. He served as chorus master at Glyndebourne from 1994 to 1998 before embarking on the international conducting career that has since taken him to many of the world’s leading opera houses and concert platforms.
Projects
Sasha Waltz’s Dido and Aeneas
Moulds is the long-standing musical director of choreographer Sasha Waltz’s acclaimed “choreographic opera” staging of Dido and Aeneas, in which singers and dancers share the drama with the period-instrument Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. He has conducted the production internationally for over a decade — from Berlin to the Sydney Festival, Madrid’s Teatro Real and Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colón.
Baroque opera at the Bolshoi
Moulds introduced historically-informed Baroque opera to the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, conducting the Russian premiere of Handel’s Rodelinda and a period-style Dido and Aeneas, for which he received Russia’s Golden Mask Award for Best Conductor in 2021.
News
Media
Press
Longborough Festival: Orlando…the Academy of Ancient Music, under Christopher Moulds, brings out the unusual beauty in Handel's score.
The Guardian (2026)
Bayerische Staatsoper: Così fan tutteLed by Christopher Moulds, the team of musicians and singers delivers a superb musical achievement… Christopher Moulds' musical direction is particularly notable…
Premiere Loge (2025)
Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg: AriodanteIn the pit of the Strasbourg Opera, there are no period instruments, but the Mulhouse Symphony Orchestra that has continued to progress over the past ten years, and which here finds the right accents under the baton of Christopher Moulds, accustomed to conducting modern orchestras in the 18th century repertoire. Unlike some of his baroque colleagues, the British conductor does not feel the need to stretch the tempos or to rush them, and his balanced reading makes the removal of all the ballets more acceptable. He is all the more to be congratulated if it is to him that we must attribute the inventiveness with which the reprises of the arias are decorated.
Laurent Bury, Concert Classic (November 2024)
Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg: Ariodanteguided by Christopher Moulds with triumphant musicality, always letting Handel’s lines breathe
Philippe Venturini, Les Echo (November 2024)
Essen Theater: Die ZauberflöteThe most positive thing about the new production: It sounds wonderful. Christopher Moulds allows the Essen Philharmonic to play robustly and pointedly.
Klaus Stübler, Ruhrnachrichten (September 2024)
Essen Theater: Die ZauberflöteFortunately, Christopher Moulds, a specialist in Baroque and Classical operas, is at the podium. In his sixth “Zauberflöte” in 30 years as a conductor, he avoids the pitfalls of directorial ideas
Pitt Herrman (September 2024)
San Francisco Opera: PartenopeConductor Christopher Moulds led a taut, propulsive account of the score, such that the Opera Orchestra’s brilliant phrasing and conscious use of vibrato made them sound as though they play Baroque music all day, every day.
Lisa Hirsch, SF Chronicle (June 2024)
San Francisco Opera: PartenopeIt was given a first-rate account by conductor Christopher Moulds. He led from a harpsichord…
Stephen Smoliar. The Rehearsal Studio (June 2024)
Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich: Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in PatriaThe Bavarian State Orchestra and the Monteverdi Continuo Ensemble conjured up a sound full of tender feelings in Christopher Mould’s contoured interpretation, with percussive sharpness and rhythmic furor in the emotional struggle
Michael Vieth, Bachtrack (2023)
Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich: Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in PatriaMembers of the Bavarian State Orchestra under Christopher Moulds ensure a Monteverdi sound that is as lush as it is varied
Stephan Mösch, Frankfurter Allgemeine (2023)
Theater an der Wien: SaulKudos, too, to the Freiburger Barockorchester under Christopher Moulds for its finely textured balance between powerful ensemble and delicate solo passages of Handel’s score
George Jahn, Bachtrack (2021)
Staatsoper, Berlin: Dido & AeneasNoteworthy in such an outré production was the sincere and tasteful treatment of the music, which provided an enjoyable and fitting counterbalance to the outlandishness of the spectacles onstage. The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, under the direction of Christopher Moulds, rendered the music at times with unflashy subtlety and at times with a zest that set one’s toes tapping…The interpretation was sensitive, fresh, dramatically engaging, and never overwrought.
Elyse Lyon, Opera Wire (2019)
Teatro Real, Madrid: Dido & AeneasMaestro Christopher Moulds gave an extraordinary reading alongside the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. His music-making was tremendously sensitive to the singers, never overpowering them and always intent on letting them lead the line. There was joy and energy in the orchestral playing throughout, giving the dance numbers greater vitality.
Mauricio Villa, Opera Wire (2019)
Contact
Management
Imogen Morris
Founder & Director, Morris Artists
imogen@morris-artists.com
+44 (0) 7810 800016