Tenor
Italy*
Acclaimed internationally as one of the finest lyric tenors of his generation, Charles Castronovo has performed at the world’s leading opera houses including Royal Ballet & Opera London, Opéra National de Paris, Metropolitan Opera, Staatsoper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Real in Madrid, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Salzburg Festspielhaus and many more. After gaining international recognition for such roles as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Alfredo in La traviata and Mozart’s tenor roles, in recent seasons he has moved into a heavier repertoire, such as the French repertoire with Faust, Roméo in Roméo et Juliette and Don Josè in Carmen, Rodolfo in La bohème, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Riccardo in Un ballo in Maschera, Adorno in Simon Boccanegra, the title roles of Don Carlo and Ernani, Cavaradossi in Tosca.
Among the many highlights of recent seasons are the title role of Don Carlos at Grand Théâtre de Genève and at Opéra National de Paris; Don José in Carmen at Royal Ballet & Opera London; Simon Boccanegra at Teatro alla Scala and at Opéra National de Paris; Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera at Metropolitan Opera, Opernhaus Zürich and Bayerische Staatsoper; La bohème at Opéra National de Paris; Cavaradossi in Tosca at Bayerische Staatsoper; Pinkerton in Damiano Michieletto’s production of Madama Butterfly at Teatro Real de Madrid; Le Chevalier des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon at Palau de les Arts in Valencia; La traviata at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; Ruggero in La Rondine at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and in concert at Opéra de Monte-Carlo; Jason in the French version of Cherubini’s Médée at Staatsoper Berlin under the baton of M°Daniel Barenboim; Manon and Madama Butterfly at Wiener Staatsoper; the title role of L’amico fritz at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Macduff in Macbeth at Salzburg Festival; Ernani with Munich Radio Orchestra, Max in Der Freischütz at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.
Charles Castronovo debuted Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at Semperoper Dresden with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Christian Thielemann, then he sang it also with Myung-whun Chung, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Harding.
Born in New York and raised in California, Charles Castronovo began his career as a resident at Los Angeles Opera, then he joined the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Development Program, and in the autumn of 1999 he made his debut on the Metropolitan Opera stage as Beppe opposite Placido Domingo in the opening night performance of Pagliacci.
His European stage debut was at the 2000 Savonlinna Festival as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, he subsequently debuted in Germany at the Staatsoper Berlin with the same role under M° Daniel Barenboim, in France at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse as Fenton in Falstaff, and in the United Kingdom at the 2002 BBC Proms in Ravel’s L’heure Espagnole. In the 2003/04 season, Castronovo made his San Francisco Opera, Opéra National de Paris, and Wiener Staatsoper debuts as Tamino Die Zauberflöte, and his Covent Garden debut as Ferrando in Così fan tutte. This was followed by his Italian stage debut as Alfredo at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.
He has participated often in performances of lesser known works: as Mylio in Lalo’s Le Roi d’Ys in Toulouse; as Vincent in Gounod’s Mireille at Opéra National de Paris; in Massenet’s Thérèse at the Festival de Montpellier, where he also sang Lalo’s La Jacquerie; Gounod’s Cinq Mars at Theater an der Wien. Castronovo starred opposite Plácido Domingo as Mario in the world premiere of Daniel Catan’s Il Postino at the Los Angeles Opera, a role he also performed in Paris and Santiago. He also recorded Mercadante’s Virginia for Opera Rara.
LATEST PERFORMANCES: Roméo et Juliette at Maison de la Radio et de la Musique in Paris; La traviata at Royal Ballet & Opera London; Carmen at Teatro Real de Madrid; Roméo et Juliette at Staatsoper Berlin; La bohème at Opéra National de Paris; I masnadieri at Bayerische Staatsoper; Macbeth at Salzburg Festival.
FORTHCOMING PROJECTS: Un ballo in maschera at Staatsoper Berlin; Simon Boccanegra at Wiener Staatsoper; Carmen at Green National Opera Athens and at Bayerisch Staatsoper; Werther (title role debut) at NTT Tokyo.
*In collaboration with Zemsky/Green Artists Management INC.
