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The American tenor, Charles Workman, is a graduate of the Juilliard School.
Charles Workman made his professional debut as Albert in Albert Herring with the Canadian Opera Company in 1991 and for three seasons he was a member of the Metropolitan Opera, debuting as Elemer opposite Kiri Te Kanawa’s Arabella. In 1995 he moved to London and began to work primarily in Europe where he made his debuts as Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the English National Opera, Agorante in Ricciardo e Zoraide at the Rossini Opera Festival and Renaud in Gluck’s Armide in Nice.
A highly-regarded interpreter of Mozart, Handel and French opera, Charles Workman is a versatile artist whose repertoire ranges from Monteverdi and Baroque music to German Romantic and contemporary opera. He has performed with Europe’s leading opera companies and orchestras, including the Opéra National de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Opéra de Lyon (France); Royal Opera Covent Garden in London, English National Opera in London, Welsh National Opera (UK); Bolshoi in Moscow (Russia); La Scala in Milan, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (Italy); Opernhaus Zürich, Grand Théâtre in Geneva (Switzerland); Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Frankfurt Opera, Staatsoper Stuttgart (Germany); Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro Reál in Madrid (Spain); Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie in Brussels (Belgium); and Prague National Theater (Czech Republic); as well as the New York City Opera. He has performed in these opera houses in numerous roles by Rossini and Mozart, and has also appeared as Alamar in Donizetti’s Alahor en Granata at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, as Fenton in Falstaff for ENO, as Goffredo in Rinaldo in Geneva, as Jupiter in Semele at the Flanders Opera and in the world première of Alexandra Harwood’s The Happy Prince at the St. John’s Smith Square in London. He has also appeared with early music ensembles as Les Musiciens du Louvre, and Les Arts Florissants,
In 1999 Charles Workman made a critically acclaimed debut with the Salzburg Festival as Abaris in Rameau’s Les Boréades under Simon Rattle and also debuted with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Claudio Abbado in J.S. Bach’s B Minor Mass (BWV 232) in Berlin and at the Salzburg Easter Festival. In 1999-2000 season he sang in Così fan tutte at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago and in Ferrara, in Monteverdi’s Orfeo (title role) at the Bayerische Staatsoper, in Die Zauberflöte (Tamino) at the Teatro São Carlos in Lisbon and in Il viaggio a Reims (Cavalier Belfiore) in La Coruna. He subsequently returned to Salzburg to perform in Don Giovanni and in Tristan und Isolde, sang Anacreon at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Il sogno di Scipione in Montreux, Die Fledermaus (Eisenstein), Don Giovanni and La clemenza di Tito at the Opéra National de Paris and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Conte d’Almaviva) at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées de Paris. He has obtained great success singing in La Cenerentola at the Teatro alla Scala and in La donna del lago (Rodrigo) at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, and made his debuts at the Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona with Henry VIII and at the Teatro Reál in Madrid with Così fan tutte.
Highlights of his engagements in the 2000’s included Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio) at the Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie in Brussels, Il viaggio a Reims (Cavalier Belfiore) and La clemenza di Tito (Tito) at the Festival Mozart di La Coruña, La rondine at the Royal Opera House-Covent Garden in London, Oberon at the Théâtre du Châtelet de Paris and in London with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, Idomeneo at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and in Ancona, Tancredi in Trieste and on a tour to Japan. On the concert side, he sang Berlioz’s Grande Messe des Morts at the Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona and George Frideric Handel’s Messiah with the Fundacio La Caixa in Barcelona. He also sang the title role in La Clemenza di Tito at Geneva Opera and d'Assise, and Love for Three Oranges at Opéra National de Paris.
Recent highlights include performances in the title role of Pfitzner's Palestrina (Munich’s Bavarian State Opera), Idomeneo (Paris Opera and Prague’s National Theater), Jupiter opposite Cecilia Bartoli's Semele (Vienna Theater an der Wien and Opernhaus Zürich), Silvio in Martin y Soler's L'Arbore di Diana (Barcelona Liceu), Don Ottavio (Santa Fe Opera), Acis in Acis and Galatea (Royal Opera Covent Garden), Polo in Tan Dun's Marco Polo (Netherlands Opera), and Flamand in Capriccio, Albert Gregor in The Makropulos Case, and the Prince in L’Amour des trois oranges (all for Paris Opera).
More recent highlights include performances as Laca Klemeň in Jenůfa and Alwa in Lulu (both for Brussels La Monnaie), the title role of Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg (Paris Opera), Bayan/Finn in Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila for the grand reopening of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Bassanio in the world premiere of André Tchaikowsky's The Merchant of Venice (Bregenz Festival), Erik in Der Fliegende Holländer (Bologna Teatro Comunale and Polish National Opera), the title roles of Pfitzner's Palestrina (Munich Bavarian State Opera) and of La clemenza di Tito (Brussels La Monnaie), Tempo in G.F. Handel's Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (Berlin Staatsoper unter den Linden and Staatsoper Stuttgart), the title roles in Idomeneo (Paris Opera and Prague National Theater), Jupiter opposite Cecilia Bartoli's Semele (Paris Salle Pleyel, Vienna Theater an der Wien, and Opernhaus Zürich), Silvio in Martin y Soler's L'Arbore di Diana (Barcelona Liceu), Don Ottavio (Santa Fe Opera), Acis in Acis and Galatea (Royal Opera Covent Garden), Polo in Tan Dun's Marco Polo (Netherlands Opera), Albert Gregor in The Makropulos Case (Strasbourg’s Opéra National du Rhin), and Flamand in Capriccio, Albert Gregor in The Makropulos Case, and the Prince in L’Amour des trois oranges (all for Paris National Opera).
Charles Workman's discography include Gluck’s Armide, Mozart’s Il sogno di Scipione, Georges Bizet’s La jolie fille de Perth, and Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon, as well as DVD’s of L'Arbore di Diana (Barcelona Liceu), Acis and Galatea (Royal Opera Covent Garden), Semele (Opernhaus Zürich), L'Amour des trois Oranges and Cardillac (Paris Opera), Marco Polo (Netherlands Opera), Arabella (Metropolitan Opera), and Rossini’s La Gazzetta (Barcelona Liceu) and Tancredi (Trieste Teatro Verdi).
Future engagements include Bassanio in André Tchaikowsky's The Merchant of Venice (Polish National Opera), Alviano in Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten and the title role of La Damnation de Faust (both for Opéra national de Lyon), and Nobile in the world premiere of Thomas Ades’ The Exterminating Angel (Salzburg Festival and Royal Opera Covent Garden). |
