Born in Marseille, France on June 21, 1936, Charles Burles was a lyric tenor whose repertoire focused chiefly on French opera and operettas. He discovered lyrical singing at a very young age and was inspired to pursue a career as an opera singer. A pupil of Léon Cazauran, he made his debut in Toulon in 1958 in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, then performed the same role at the Marseille Opera the following year. Charles Burles continued to develop his repertoire and performed his first role - in Rameau’s Zoroastre - at the Opéra-Comique de Paris in 1970. He played many other roles in this venue, then that of the Opéra Garnier in Paris. Praised for his light tone, Charles Burles focused his attention on French operas and operettas, but continued to sing in Italian. Charles Burles recorded a series of albums beginning with 1970’s Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène. Further releases include La Fille de Madame Angot (1973) Lakmé (1974), Vive Offenbach! (1982), Romeo & Juliette (1984), and Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers (2009). Charles Burles continued to perform over the years in France and, in 1998, he rubbed shoulders with the young generation, including Natalie Dessay, in a new production of his most celebrated performance, Lakmé. After several seasons at the Opéra-Bastille de Paris in Turandot, he presented his farewell performance in Marseille in 2006. Charles Burles, who had focused on teaching lyrical singing to a new generation, died on August 22, 2021.
