Tenor Charles Castronovo returns to LA Opera as Mario Ruoppolo, the leading role in the world premiere of Daniel Catán's Il Postino (September 2010). He most recently appeared with LA Opera as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni in 2007.

Mr. Castronovo's first professional engagements were as a Resident Artist with LA Opera, where he gained experience in over 100 performances of various supporting roles. Upon leaving Los Angeles, he was accepted into the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, where he made his debut singing the role of Beppe in Pagliacci with Plácido Domingo on the opening night of the 1999/2000 season. Mr. Castronovo later recorded the same role with Decca on the 2000 release of Pagliacci with Jose Cura, conducted by Riccardo Chailly. From there, he went on to make a series of important role debuts as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Ernesto in Don Pasquale with the Boston Lyric Opera, and Fenton in Falstaff with the Pittsburgh Opera.

European engagements soon followed with concert performances of Rossini's Stabat Mater in Cologne, and appearances as Fenton (Paris Opera, Toulouse, Brussels), Don Ottavio at (Berlin Staatsoper with Daniel Barenboim), Ferrando in Così fan tutte (Covent Garden, Opera Monte Carlo and Berlin Staatsoper), Tamino in Die Zauberflöte (Vienna Staatsoper, Paris Opera), Nemorino in L' Elisir d' Amore (Berlin Staatsoper, Vienna Staatsoper with Anna Netrebko), and Alfredo in La Traviata (Covent Garden, Berlin Staatsoper, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova).

Other recent engagements include the title role in Faust with Pittsburgh Opera, Rodolfo in La Bohème with Detroit Opera, Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles with San Francisco Opera, Belmonte in Die Enthührung aus dem Serail at the Salzburg Festival, and Nemorino with the Paris Opera.

Mr. Castronovo's concert work includes the tenor soloist in Rossini's Stabat Mater in London with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, led by Mark Elder, Berlioz' Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by Pierre Boulez, concert performances of Kurt Weill's Street Scene with the New York Philharmonic, and an opera gala concert with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, conducted by Kent Nagano which was later released on DVD. His recording of the title role in La Clemenza di Tito with Vesselina Kasarova can be heard on the RCA Red Seal label. Additionally, he appears singing the tenor solo in Rossini's Stabat Mater on the Opus 111 label. Mr. Castronovo's most recent DVD release is of his performance as Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, live from the 2006 Salzburg Festival, released by Decca.

Some of his most recent engagements include the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto (Bordeaux), Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress (Covent Garden), Don Ottavio (San Francisco Opera and LA Opera), Mylio in Le Roi d'Ys (Toulouse), Alfredo (Royal Opera, Covent Garden), Elvino in La Sonnambula (Detroit Opera) and Nadir (San Diego Opera and Washington National Opera).

Engagements for the 2009/10 season include Vincent in Mireille at the Opéra National de Paris (Palais Garnier), Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore at the Opéra National de Paris (Bastille), the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at the Finnish National Opera, the title role in Faust with Washington Concert Opera, Rodolfo in La Bohème at the Staatsoper Berlin, Ferrando in Così fan tutte at Covent Garden, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte at Santa Fe Opera in the summer of 2010.