Charles Burles
Encyclopedia
Charles Burles is a French lyric tenor
, primarily associated with the French repertory, both opera
and operetta
.
Burles was born in Marseille
, France,where he studied voice with Léon Cazauran. He made his stage debut in 1958, in Toulon
. The following year he appeared at the Opéra de Marseille
, as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia.
In the ensuing years, he sang mainly in Marseille expanding his repertory, with a few guest appearances in Lyon, Turin, and Venice. He made his debut at the Opéra-Comique
in 1970, and at the Paris Opéra
in 1971. His roles at these two houses included: Lindoro
, Nemorino
, Ernesto
, George Brown
, Chapelou
, Vincent
, Nadir
, Gérard
, Tonio
, Arturo
, etc. He also sang in several Jacques Offenbach
operettas, and appeared in Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and Israel.
A stylish singer, with a light and attractive voice, he can be heard on several recordings of French opera and operetta released by EMI
France, often partnering Mady Mesplé
, the most famous being Lakmé
, under Alain Lombard
, in 1970, in which he sings the role of Gérald. He also recorded the small role of Hadji in the same opera, opposite Natalie Dessay
in 1998.
Burles is still active today teaching and performing.
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, primarily associated with the French repertory, both opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
.
Burles was born in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, France,where he studied voice with Léon Cazauran. He made his stage debut in 1958, in Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
. The following year he appeared at the Opéra de Marseille
Opéra de Marseille
L’Opéra de Marseille, known today as the Opéra Municipal, is an opera company located in Marseille, France. In 1685, the city was the second in France after Bordeaux to have an opera house which was erected on a tennis court....
, as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia.
In the ensuing years, he sang mainly in Marseille expanding his repertory, with a few guest appearances in Lyon, Turin, and Venice. He made his debut at the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
in 1970, and at the Paris Opéra
Palais Garnier
The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
in 1971. His roles at these two houses included: Lindoro
L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca...
, Nemorino
L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
, Ernesto
Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio ....
, George Brown
La Dame blanche
La dame blanche is an opéra comique in three acts by the French composer François-Adrien Boieldieu. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and is based on episodes from no less than five of the works by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott, including his novels The Monastery, Guy Mannering, and The...
, Chapelou
Le postillon de Lonjumeau
Le postillon de Lonjumeau is an opéra-comique in three acts by Adolphe Adam to a French libretto by 'Adolphe de Leuven' and 'Brunswick' ....
, Vincent
Mireille
Mireille is a French given name, derived from the Provençal Occitan name Mirèio . It could be related with the Occitan verb mirar "to admire" or with the Occitan surnames Miriam "Myriam", Maria "Mary".-A given name:* Mireille Darc , a French actress* Mireille Gingras , Canadian-American...
, Nadir
Les pêcheurs de perles
Les pêcheurs de perles is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was first performed on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in its initial run...
, Gérard
Lakmé
Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Delibes wrote the score during 1881–82 with its first performance on 14 April 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Set in British India in the mid 19th century, Lakmé is based on the 1880 novel...
, Tonio
La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was...
, Arturo
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
, etc. He also sang in several Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
operettas, and appeared in Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and Israel.
A stylish singer, with a light and attractive voice, he can be heard on several recordings of French opera and operetta released by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
France, often partnering Mady Mesplé
Mady Mesplé
Mady Mesplé is a French opera singer, the leading high coloratura soprano of her generation in France, sometimes heralded as the successor to Mado Robin.-Biography:...
, the most famous being Lakmé
Lakmé
Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Delibes wrote the score during 1881–82 with its first performance on 14 April 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Set in British India in the mid 19th century, Lakmé is based on the 1880 novel...
, under Alain Lombard
Alain Lombard
Alain Lombard is a French conductor.-Career:Lombard attended the Conservatoire de Paris, where his studied violin with Line Talleul and conducting with Gaston Poulet. He subsequently secured an appointment at the Opéra National de Lyon in 1961, and later became principal conductor from 1961 to 1965...
, in 1970, in which he sings the role of Gérald. He also recorded the small role of Hadji in the same opera, opposite Natalie Dessay
Natalie Dessay
Natalie Dessay is a French coloratura soprano. She dropped the silent "h" in her first name in honor of Natalie Wood when she was in grade school and subsequently simplified the spelling of her surname outside France...
in 1998.
Burles is still active today teaching and performing.
Selected Recordings
- André Grétry - L'amant jalouxL'amant jalouxL'amant jaloux, ou Les fausses apparences is a French comédie mêlée d'ariettes in three acts by André Grétry first performed at Versailles on 20 November 1778. The libretto is by the Irish playwright Thomas Hales with the verse passages provided by F.Levasseur...
- Edgar DoneuxEdgar DoneuxEdgard Doneux was a Belgian conductor.Doneux received his entire musical formation at the conservatoire of his native city, and made his conducting debut at the Opéra Royal de Liège, in 1940, aged only 20.... - André Grétry - Richard Coeur-de-lionRichard Coeur-de-lion (opera)Richard Coeur-de-lion is an opéra comique, described as a comédie mise en musique, by the Belgian composer André Grétry. was by Michel-Jean Sedaine. The work is generally recognised as Grétry's masterpiece and one of the most important French opéras comiques...
- Edgar Doneux - Gioachino Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia - Jean-Pierre MartyJean-Pierre MartyJean-Pierre Marty is a French pianist and conductor.Jean-Pierre Marty was first a pupil of Alfred Cortot, then of Julius Katchen. He started a piano career at the age of 13, first as accompanist to the great cellist Pierre Fournier a few months before appearing in Paris as soloist in three piano...
(sung in French) - Alexandre Charles LecocqAlexandre Charles LecocqAlexandre Charles Lecocq was a French musical composer. He was admitted into the Conservatoire in 1849, being already an accomplished pianist. He studied under François Bazin, François Benoist, and Fromental Halévy, winning the first prize for harmony in 1850, and the second prize for fugue in 1852...
- La fille de Madame AngotLa fille de Madame AngotLa fille de Madame Angot is an opéra comique in three acts by Charles Lecocq. The French text was by Clairville, Paul Siraudin and Victor Koning.-Performance history:...
- Jean DoussardJean DoussardJean Doussard is a French conductor.He was born in Saint-Melaine-sur-Aubance. Doussard began his studies at the Music Conservatory of Angers, and later at the Paris Conservatory, where he was a pupil of Jean Fournet, Paul Van Kempen, and Ferdinand Leitner... - Robert PlanquetteRobert PlanquetteJean Robert Planquette was a French composer of songs and operettas.Several of Planquette's operettas were extraordinarily successful in Britain, including Les cloches de Corneville , the length of whose initial London run broke all records for any piece of musical theatre up to that time, and Rip...
- Les cloches de CornevilleLes cloches de CornevilleLes cloches de Corneville is an operetta in three acts, composed by Robert Planquette to a French libretto by Louis Clairville and Charles Gabet based on a play by Gabet.In 1876, the director of the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, Louis Cantin, hired Planquette to compose the operetta,...
- Jean Doussard - Louis VarneyLouis VarneyLouis Varney was a French composer.-Biography:Louis Varney was the son of Alphonse Varney, a French conductor at the Bouffes-Parisiens and at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, he was also invited to conduct the "French Opera Season" abroad, notably in New Orleans, Louisiana, and this is how Louis came...
- Les mousquetaires au couventLes mousquetaires au couventLes mousquetaires au couvent is an opérette in three acts by Louis Varney, with a libretto by Jules Prével and Paul Ferrier, after a vaudeville by St-Hilaire and Dupont from 1835 entitled L'habit ne fait pas le moine...
- Edgar Doneux - Jacques OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
- La belle HélèneLa belle HélèneLa belle Hélène , opéra bouffe in three acts, is an operetta by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy...
- Jean-Pierre Marty - Jacques OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
- Orphée aux enfers - Michel PlassonMichel PlassonMichel Plasson is a French conductor.Plasson was a student of Lazare Lévy at the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1962, he was a prize-winner at the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors. He studied briefly in the United States, including time with Charles Münch...