Opera Scotland

Carlos Feller Suggest updates

Kalman Felberbaum.

Born Lwów, 30 July 1923.

Died Kempton, Germany, 21 December 2018.

Polish-born Argentine bass-baritone.

Carlos Feller spent most of his career as a member of the resident company at the Cologne Opera. He was taken to Argentina in infancy and trained in Buenos Aires at the Teatro Colón opera school.

His debut in 1946 in Buenos Aires was as the Doctor in Pelléas et Mélisande. He worked in Argentina until 1958 when, as a member of the Chamber Opera of Buenos Aires he travelled to the Brussels World Exhibition. This led to a contract in Mainz, followed by appearances in Frankfurt and Kiel. In 1969 he settled in Cologne.

He made guest appearances at many of the leading opera companies, including the New York Met (Don Alfonso 1988), Salzburg Festival, Munich and Brussels. He specialized in comic roles by Mozart, Rossini and Donizetti, but his range extended to include such twentieth century composers as Berg (Doctor Wozzeck and Schigolch Lulu) and Szokolay (Polonius Hamlet).

His first appearance in Britain was in 1958 at Sadler's Wells in Il maestro di cappella.  The following year he worked at Glyndebourne in two Mozart roles (Don Alfonso, Figaro). He returned to appear at the Edinburgh Festival with the Glyndebourne company in Busoni's Arlecchino. His later Edinburgh appearances included the Festival's production of Haydn's Le pescatrici. The Cologne company under John Pritchard also came to the Festivals of 1980 and 1981, when Feller sang Don Alfonso and Bartolo.