Charles Castronovo, one of the most famous tenors: I come to Lithuania with an open heart and soul
One of the brightest tenors of the young generation, Charles Castronovo, who was taken under his wing by the opera legend Placido Domingo, conquered the audience by performing on the most famous stages of Europe and the world. The performer has embodied various characters in operas, so he will make the chameleon especially fresh and diverse, the press release says.
Since the beginning of his career Ch. Castronovo performs in the world’s largest opera houses: Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Berlin State Opera, Paris Opera, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Theater Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels and many others, not forgetting festivals in Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence. His repertoire ranges from the great tenor roles in Mozart’s operas “Don Juan”, “All of them are like this”, “The Magic Flute” to “Lucia di Lamermur” (Edgardo), “Elixir of Love” (Nemorino), “La Traviata” (Alfredo) .
Before arriving in Vilnius, Charles talks with the manager of the festival “Midsummer Vilnius” Valdas Petreikis:
Charles, you have performed several times in Lithuania for different occasions and events, how did it go for you?
The last time I visited Lithuania was in 2017, just at the “Midsummer Vilnius” festival. I am very happy to be back here, I appreciate the Lithuanian food, the sincerity of the people, the beauty of the women and the feeling I get when I stay here. I know that I will be warmly welcomed by an educated, cultured and warm audience. For the evening of my performance, I have an idea to complement the operatic arias with old Neapolitan songs. In the first part, accompanied by the piano, I will perform classical opera arias, and in the second part, with the addition of guitar and mandolin, we will create a small ensemble with a Neapolitan atmosphere, I hope it will be very good! I wish the audience a great program that will be sensual and earthy, a summer evening is the perfect time for this kind of music!
For those who don’t know you, can you tell us about your tenor career?
I was born in New York, raised in Los Angeles. Since I was a child, I liked acting, theater lessons, playing music, and since I was a teenager, I liked rock&roll and playing the guitar. I was “obsessed” with rock&roll, The Beatles and other classic bands of this genre. Once at school, when my best friend and I were playing Beatles songs during our lunch break, the choir director who passed by complimented me on my voice and suggested I join the choir. I already answered that I will be a rock star, not a singer. Being the smart woman she is, she whispered to me that there was a shortage of guys in the choir, it worked and I went! Until then, I belonged to 3 rock bands, but my voice was too “clean”, not low and rough enough for rock. I was impressed with the harmony of the choir. I realized that I can sing classical sounds much easier than rock, and when I heard opera, I realized that it is very dramatic and passionate. For me, opera has become the rock&roll of classical music! From the age of 16 I was not interested in anything else but opera! That’s how it all started!
You were lucky enough to meet the most famous opera stars quite early on, how did it go?
I was very lucky to sing with the world’s most famous tenors: Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. When I started singing at the Los Angeles Opera, I got a role in “Fedora”, where I played the lead role according to Mr. Domingo, which was a dream come true for me because he was one of my heroes. I was on stage with him more than once, because I spent 2 years in that Opera. Later I went to New York, to the Young Artist Program at the Metropolitan Opera. Luciano Pavarotti came to sing “Tosca” and in between rehearsals a pianist mistook me for him and his first words were “Hello, how are you?” Maybe you want to sing for me?”. Three days later I was at his apartment singing for him and then I got his lessons and on the way out he told me to let him know if I needed his help. I wasn’t brave enough to ask for his phone number, I thanked him and left with a picture of him sitting on the couch eating ice cream when I walked in. I will never forget this video, it was amazing!
Well, while touring in Portland, Oregon, I met a conductor who was Mr. Carreras’ nephew. I admitted that his uncle is one of my authorities and once he told me that his uncle watched the rehearsal today. I was in shock because I had to sing Elixir of Love for the first time and I was very nervous. But everything worked out perfectly. This is how I met my third authority figure.
I have also sung with Kostas Smorigins and other Lithuanian artists, there are many talents in Lithuania.
in 2019 you have won international opera awards and have been recognized as the world’s best opera vocalist. (Lithuanian representative Asmik Grigorian, who captivated the world with the role of Salomea at the Salzburg Festival, was recognized as the best opera singer in the same awards.) What did the award tell you?
I’ve never been one of those singers who flashes in the news, I’m a working tenor. I like to work, be a good colleague and create some art. The award was a confirmation that my hard work was recognized. As artists, we spoil ourselves in terms of relationships, we miss children’s birthdays and school holidays and football games, we experience loneliness. It’s true that many things in our lives seem glamorous, but more than once I’ve had dinner alone on my birthday. I worked all day, studied, and then took myself out to dinner – and that’s definitely not glamorous. As a parent, I have to make a lot of sacrifices, and although my children understand the specifics of my work, I dedicated my award to all families that have performers.
Charlie, what does the future hold for you, what are your wishes?
At the beginning of my career I said that I wanted to be a famous opera soloist and sing in the most popular places in the world, eventually my goals started to change, now the most important thing for me is to improve at my own pace so that any performance I do is of high quality. I also used to think that the more experience I had, the less nervous I would be, but the opposite has happened – popularity and professionalism raise expectations, and more.
You know, I realized that all opera houses are wonderful and special, whether I sing at the Metropolitan Opera or a small country Opera, I give the same dedication, energy and feeling. At the moment, this is the most important thing for me – to give all of myself, regardless of the circumstances. I come to Lithuania with an open heart and soul.
DELFI is strictly prohibited from publishing the information for use on other websites, traditional media or elsewhere or distributing our material in any form without consent, and if consent is obtained, DELFI must be credited as the source.