Charles Karel - baritone
Anthony George - Artist Management
250 West 77th St. New York, NY 10024



Reviews

Operatic Roles
Alfio
Rigoletto
Germont
Renato
Jokanaan
Monterone
Barone
Millhand
Scarpla (cover)
Paolo (cover)
Tonio (cover)
Alfio (cover)
Klingsor (cover)
Scarpia
Rigoletto


Scarpla



Tonio
Schicchl
Alfio
Alfio/Tonio


Simone
lago
Jack Rance
High Priest
Frank Maurrent
King Tancredi
 		Cavalleria Rusticana
Rigoletto
La Traviata
Un Ballo in Maschera
Salome
Rigoletto
La Traviata
Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk
Tosca
Simon Boccanegra
Pagliacci
Cavalleria Rusticana
Parsifal
Tosca
Rigoletto


Tosca



I Pagliacci
Gianni Schicci
Cavalleria Rusticana
Cav-Pag


Simon Boccanegra
Otello
Fanciulla del West
Samson & Dalilah
Street Scene
Holy Blood & Crescent Moon


ABAO, Bilbao, Spain 11/1996
Cleveland Opera, 5/1996
Austin Lyric Opera, 3/1996
Knoxville Opera, 9/1995
Teatro Miguel de Ceates, Malaga, Spain 5/1995
Metropolitan Opera, 1994/95
Metropolitan Opera, 1994/95
Metropolitan Opera, 1994/95
Metropolitan Opera, 1994/95
Metropolitan Opera, 1994/95
Metropolitan Opera, 1994/95
Metropolitan Opera, 1994/95
Metropolitan Opera, 1994/95
Connecticut Opera Assoc.1994
Ft. Worth Opera
Cleveland Opera
Kansas City Lyric Opera
Lake George Opera Festival
W. Virginia Symphony Opera
Opera Northeast, NY
Westfield Symphony, NJ
West Virginia Symphony
West Virginia Symphony
New York City Opera
Virginia Opera
Greater Buffalo Opera
Treasure Coast Opera
Bel Canto Opera, NYC
Greater Buffalo Opera
Art Park Opera, NY
Connecticut Opera (w/Mignon Dunn)
New York City Opera
Cleveland Opera (world premiere)
Ft. Worth Opera
Roles Under Consideration
Gerard
Di Luna
Barnaba
Falstaff/Ford
Andrea Chenier
Il Trovatore
La Gioconda
Falstaff
 		Amonasro
Don Carlo
Rodrigo
 		Aida
La Forza Del Destino
Don Carlo


Vocal Training:
Music Training:		 John Charles Thomas, Robert Weede, Sam Sakarian
University of Southern California


Reviews

Un Ballo in Maschera

"Possibly the best of all was baritone Chales Karel as Renato, dearest friend of Riccardo and husband to Amelia. Renato's singing and performance seemed to have an extra measure of strength and fullness, stealing more than one scene from Volverton." - Greg Altum, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, 9/30/95

Rigoletto

"The cast was outstanding. Charles Karel, the Rigoletto, is a superb singing actor with a lustrous baritone of exceptional range and expressive nuance. His portrayal of the hunchback, warped in body and mind, was all the more moving in that it was completely free of caricature." - Harry Haskell, The Kansas City Times, 10/82

This was, overall, a fine performance by a cast of excellent singers, headed by Charles Karel in the title role of Rigoletto, sung with a strong, commanding voice filled with power. His was the best voice heard in this performance, his Cleveland Opera debut. - The Cleveland Voice, 2/83

Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi)/Tonio (Pagliacci)

"Schicchi and Tonio were capably shouldered by Charles Karel, his splendid baritone and seasoned presence easily matching vocal and personality changes." - Opera News, 12/92

Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana)/Tonio (Pagliacci)

"Baritone Karel did double duty, moving over from "Cavalleria" to sing Tonio in Pagliacci. His opening Prologue showed the same strength of voice, but a better opportunity to reveal his excellent focus and richness." - Buffalo News, 4/8/90

"Karel's powerful baritone was convincing in the dramatic scenes with Santuzza, and later with Turiddu."

"Karel was superb as Tonio. An excellent actor as well as singer, his setting of the stage in the Prologue, and his duet with Nedda were highlights of the performance." - Vero Beach Press-Journal, 1/16/90

Jack Rance (Fanciulla del West)

"The villain of the cast is Sheriff Jack Rance, whose role was appropriately sung with a mellow but dark baritone timbre by Charles Karel. His strong, steady voice mirrors his resolve to win Minnie and hang Johnson." - The Buffalo News, 7/4/87

Scarpia (Tosca)

"As Scarpia, one of the baddest of all operatic heavies, Charles Karel was dramatically perfect. Crude, but not too crude: smooth, but with a nice whiff of sadism - you can't teach this stuff. As some critics have suggested, the opera takes on extra dimension if we can feel a certain authentic sexual tension between Tosca and her tormentor and, in this case, it was there. Karel's intoxicated, dreamlike soliloquy at the end of Act 1, shattered by the thunderous "Te Deum," was perhaps the high point of the evening." - Steve Metcalf, The Hartford Courant, 3/11/94

"Charles Karel's consistent and vocally seamless Scarpia held the stage with lustrous tone and venomous portrayal.""- Opera News, 1989

"The opera's scoundrel, Scarpia, was portrayed by Charles Karel, who possesses a strong, authoritative baritone." - The Charleston Daily Mail, 4/17/88

"But stealing the show was Karel's Scarpia. He sang with authority and conveyed his thoughts and emotions (an arrogant smirk here, a self-satisfied smile there) with mastery... If the strength was the singing, there were still some good moments o dramatic interaction, especially by Karel." - Telegram & Gazette, Worcester, MA, 5/9/91

The first appearance of Scarpia took on added impact as Charles Karel, dressed in battle fatigues and wearing dark glasses, strode on stage surrounded by soldiers brandishing automatic rifles... Karel supplied a gruff, tough Scarpia." - Opera, 9/88

Hadani had plenty of help in the Lake George Opera production, especially from Charles Karel, who performed the demanding and difficult role of Baron Scarpia, chief of police. His rich, solid, well controlled baritone added greatly to this stellar production. He and Hadani are on stage for much of the first two acts, and their arias constantly moved the audience to sustained applause." - Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY, 7/86

"Karel, who has experience with the Bel Canto Opera Company, the Connecticut Opera and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, is a magnificent actor and was a totally convincing villain, as ominous as Count Dracula when he first strode menacingly on stage in his flowing cape. Karel brought the first act to a powerful and stunning close with his gloomy aria of tasted victory... and his act-long encounter with Tosca in his palace chamber was spellbinding." - Schenectady Gazette, 7/28/86

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