In times of fierce global competition, some tenors come and go.No Charles Castronovo.
Since leaving the Metropolitan Opera’s Young Artists Program more than 20 years ago, he has proven his tenacity in a variety of lyrical and, steadily, more dramatic roles. He likens the balance needed for vocal refinement and mental stability to the relationship of yin and yang.
“You have to be very sensitive to make something beautiful on stage,” he said by phone from London.
Castronovo, 47, has a full schedule and is a regular at major Maisons on both sides of the Atlantic. He kicked off the season this month as Don He Ottavio in a revival production of Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’ at the Royal Opera House in London. Next up is Teatro Verdi Salerno in Italy, where he sings the lead tenor part in Cilea’s ‘Adriana Lecouvreur’.
Mr. Castronovo, also coveted in the French repertoire, will return to the Vienna and Berlin State Operas next year for Massenet’s ‘Manon’ and Cherubini’s ‘Mede’.With the Bavarian State Opera in December this year metfrom 26 May to 9 June, he takes on the classic role of Rodolfo in Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’.
Tenor noted the sincere and outspoken character of the poet who becomes infatuated with the fatally ill seamstress Mimi. And why do you think he did this? But I think his reaction to the situation is very honest. “
Mr. Castronovo painted something similar to Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata. He has now sung the role over 200 times. “They act exactly as imagined by a young man in love,” he explained.
Verdi’s music becomes more and more of a focus for the tenor as his voice becomes richer and darker. This year, he is set to release his first solo album — Verdi His Arias — on the label Delos.
In particular, he said, the composer’s midterm works “really fit like a glove.”
“There’s a little more vibrancy to it,” he continued. “It feels like a next step, because I’ve sung a lot of Mozart and other bel cantos. [repertoire]”
Mr. Castronovo was born in Queens, New York City and raised in California. He credits his ability to endure constant trips to his mother’s roots, who immigrated to the US from Ecuador when he was 16 (his father is from Sicily). “You can find a way to feel at home wherever you are,” he said.
As a teenager, he was introduced to opera when Plácido Domingo played the lead role in Verdi’s Otello.
“It was like classical rock and roll to me, because it was dramatic, sexy and powerful,” he recalls. “So I listened to a tenor CD and imitated it at home. Before I knew it, that was all I could do.
In his early twenties, Mr. Castronovo participated in prestigious tracks that included singing small roles as a resident artist at the Los Angeles Opera, and participated in the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. In 1999, Mr. Castronovo made his Met professional debut as Beppe in Leoncavallo’s “I Pagliacci”.
“After all,” he said. Singing an entire role in the studio or in a lesson is a completely different thing. “
Mr. Castronovo soon assigned a major part to a small American opera company. In 2000, his career moved to Europe, in Savonlinna, Finland.
“It started like crazy,” he recalls. “I am happy to have survived and keep getting better. [a question of] Always readjust. Adding new roles. Find new challenges and overcome them. “
He said he was able to focus more on drama than on vocal technique.
“We can focus more on the character’s arc and add nuance here and there,” he said. “I’m comfortable enough technically to let myself go emotionally.”
Playing Rodolfo at the Bavarian State Opera last season, he went so far as to shout the character’s utterance, “Mimi,” that ends the opera when the heroine dies of consumption, also known as tuberculosis.
“You can’t sing a perfect note when you’re choking and want to cry,” he explained. “But after that I only sang at the end because I had nothing else to sing. It was really perfect.”