Charles Castronovo
Castronovo in 2007
Born	( 1975-06-19 ) June 19, 1975 (age 49) Queens , New York
Occupation	Opera singer ( tenor )
Years active	1998?present
Website	charlescastronovo .com

Charles Castronovo (born June 19, 1975) is an American operatic tenor . Castronovo was born to a Sicilian father and an Ecuadorian mother in Queens , New York, but grew up in Southern California . ^[1] He attended California State University, Fullerton , for undergraduate studies in classical voice. ^[2] During his time at the university, his talent came to the attention of William Vendice, the chorusmaster of the Los Angeles Opera , who promptly hired him as a chorister . ^[3]

Career [ edit ]

He began his professional career as a resident artist with the Los Angeles Opera. In the summer of 1998 he was a participant in San Francisco Opera 's prestigious Merola Opera Program , and later joined the Metropolitan Opera 's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. ^[4] After garnering much experience at the Metropolitan Opera, a series of significant role debuts soon followed such as Don Ottavio (Mozart's Don Giovanni ), Ernesto (Donizetti's Don Pasquale ), Fenton (Verdi's Falstaff ), Ferrando in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte , Tamino (Mozart's Die Zauberflote ) and Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata .

He has sung at many of the world's leading opera houses such as: the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera, Covent Garden , Berlin State Opera , Vienna State Opera , San Francisco Opera, Salzburg Festival and Santa Fe Opera .

The 2006/07 season marked a series of role debuts such as Rodolfo in La boheme , Nadir ( Les pecheurs de perles ), the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto , and Mylio in Edouard Lalo 's Le roi d'Ys . The 2007/08 season marked the role debut of Tom Rakewell ( The Rake's Progress ) at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and a return to Los Angeles Opera singing the role of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni .

During the 2008/09 season, Castronovo debuted at the Washington National Opera , and performed his first Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor . In June 2009, Castronovo returned to San Francisco Opera as Alfredo opposite Anna Netrebko in Verdi's La traviata . Later, in November, he performed the title role in Faust for the Washington Concert Opera .

In the Fall of 2010, Castronovo debuted the role of Mario Ruoppolo in the world premiere of Daniel Catan 's Il Postino at the Los Angeles Opera, along with Placido Domingo , which was repeated in June 2011 at the Theatre du Chatelet , Paris, again with Placido Domingo.

In the Summer of 2011, Castronovo made his debut with the Aix-en-Provence Festival , appearing with French soprano Natalie Dessay in Verdi's La traviata . The 2011/12 season marked Castronovo's debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago , singing the role of Tamino. In August 2011 he appeared at the Royal Albert Hall with the John Wilson Orchestra in the now celebrated series of Proms , dedicated to the great Hollywood musicals. In June 2012, Castronovo debuted the role of Nero in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea with Teatro Real .

In the summer of 2014, he performed the title role in Hector Berlioz 's La damnation de Faust , standing in for Ramon Vargas , at the Verbier Festival .

Recent musical projects include performances of traditional Neapolitan songs , with a small ensemble of guitar, accordion, percussion and bass.

Recordings [ edit ]

• Leoncavallo : Pagliacci CD (2000), Decca Records ^[5]
• Rossini : Stabat Mater CD (2001), Opus 111 Records
• ? 10th Annual Opera Gala CD (2004), RCA Red Seal Records
• Berlin Opera Night: In Support of the German AIDS Foundation DVD (2004), EuroArts ^[6]
• Mozart : La clemenza di Tito CD (2006), RCA Red Seal Records ^[7]
• Mozart: Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail DVD (2007), Decca Records ^[8]
• Mercadante : Virginia CD (2008), Opera Rara
• Gounod: Mireille (as Vincent). Paris Opera , Marc Minkowski (conductor). DVD (2009), FRA Musica
• Verdi : La traviata DVD (2012), Virgin Classics ^[9]

Notes [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• Official website