Charles Castronovo – tenor (USA)

General information

Acclaimed internationally as one of the finest lyric tenors of his generation, Castronovo has also sung at most of the world’s leading opera houses such as the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Berlin State Opera, Paris Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Theatre Royale de la Monnaie, Brussels, and many others including at the Salzburg and Aix en Provence Festivals. His repertoire spans from the great Mozart tenor roles in “Don Giovanni”, “Cosi Fan Tutte” and “Die Zauberfloete”, to Edgardo in “Lucia di Lammermoor”,  Nemorino in “L’Elisir D’Amore” and Alfredo in “La Traviata”. In recent seasons Castronovo has also won wide acclaim for his performances as the title role in “Faust”, Romeo in “Romeo et Juliette”, the Duke in “Rigoletto”, Rodolfo in “La Boheme” and Tom Rakewell in “The Rakes Progress”. He starred in the title role of Daniel Catan’s “Il Postino” opposite Placido Domingo in the work’s world premiere in Los Angeles, as well as Paris and Santiago. Castronovo subsequently appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Don Ottavio in “Don Giovanni”. He sang Gennaro in “Lucrezia Borgia” for the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, role that he will also sing at the Theatre Royale de la Monnaie and then will sing “La Traviata” for the Staatsoper Berlin.

Castronovo will appear at the Royal Opera Covent Garden in two productions during the current season: as Tamino in “Die Zauberfloete” and in his first performances of Ruggero in “La Rondine” opposite Angela Gheorghiu. Future plans also include his first Des Grieux in “Manon” in Toulouse, “Faust” opposite Anna Netrebko in Baden Baden, a new production of “Maria Stuarda” at the Royal Opera Covent Garden opposite Joyce DiDonato. He will appear in several works in Munich; among them “Die Zauberfloete”, “L’Elisir D’Amore”,  “La Boheme”, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in a new production of “La Rondine”, and as Lensky in Eugene Onegin and Nemorino in Vienna and the Chicago Lyric Opera. Castronovo is also scheduled for his debut at the Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona as Alfredo and more performances of Rodolfo at the Metropolitan Opera.

Born in New York and raised in California, Castronovo began his career as a resident at the Los Angeles Opera. He was invited to join the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Development Program and in the autumn of 1999 made his debut at the Metropolitan as Beppe in the opening night performance of “I Pagliacci”.

He has recorded many rare french operas by Massenet, Gounod and Lalo as well as an album with an ensemble of musicians performing many of the most loved Neapolitan Songs, called “Dolce Napoli” available on Roven Records. Soon to be released also is an album of Spanish repertoire with the classical guitarist Liat Cohen on Warner Music.

His most recent work includes his debut as Don Jose in a new production at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the Theatre Capitol, Toulouse. Upcoming engagements include his role debuts as Don Carlos in the original French version of the Verdi masterpiece and the title role of “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” by Offenbach.

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