Matthew Sprizzo

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Verdi Requiem with the Virginia Symphony:
"Charles Reid displayed a clarion and clear tenor that soared throughout his range, his extended Ingemisco, in which he prays to God for mercy and forgiveness, truly impressive."

                                                                                                                                                                                                     -The Virginia Gazette

"There aren’t enough synonyms for excellence in the thesaurus to adequately describe the performance of the Verdi Messa da Requiem (Requiem Mass), presented March 18 by the Virginia Symphony conducted by JoAnn Falletta, with the Symphony Orchestra Chorus and a quartet of superb soloists.  Powerful and breathtaking are the only words that even come close...Tenor Charles Reid sounded Italian: that seamless joining of high and low registers with unforced, expressive, elegant emotional power—and that doesn’t come along every day...The very different voices of the quartet stood out in solo passages, as they well should, but in twos and threes and fours, their voices were beautifully balanced and blended—a fairly rare phenomenon​​."

                                                                                                                                                                                                     -WHRO Radio, Norfolk                                                                                                                                                                              
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​Critic's Choice, Opera News!  Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with JoAnn Falletta and the Virginia Arts Festival, Naxos recording:

"​Charles Reid has the range and penetrating sound for the three testing tenor songs."                                                    -David Shengold

Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde,  Virginia Arts Festival and Naxos recording:
"With the orchestra, Charles Reid sang The Drinking Song of the Earth’s Sorrow illustrating life’s darkness and brevity.  It took a few minutes to adjust to the trimmed textures of the reduced score but once we did the interplay of instrumental lines was a revelation.  At leisurely tempos and a more spare instrumental sound the tenor did not have to strain to be heard.  Yet Mr. Reid was a loud drunk, asking us to delay drinking our toast until he has his full say of sorrow: “Dark is life, and so too death.” But wine at the right time can help. The robust, scolding message came across effectively...This was an evening to remember. It has been several years since Virginia Arts Festival has so honored the art of solo classical song." 
                                                                                                                                                                                      -Artsong Update.org 


Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen, Hagen, Germany:
"Luckily there is Charles Reid's Jose, his voice possessing effortless volume, secure high notes and genuine tonal sheen that renders believable all the requisite emotions:  passionate desire, enraged jealousy and despair."
                                                                                                                                                                                                 -Der Westen
          

Mozart Requiem, Handel and Haydn Society:
"The soloists - Christine Brandes, soprano, Paula Murrihy, mezzo-soprano, Charles Reid, tenor, and Alfred Walker, bass – were all excellent. Reid and Walker have big, operatic voices and were exciting and incisive in the ensembles."
                                                                                                                                                                                       -The Boston Globe


Messiah, Master Chorale of Washington:
“Reid proved a stalwart tenor, declaiming his part with lyricism and authority.” 
                                                                                                                                                                                    -The Washington Post


Richter Mass in Mannheim:
“A fantastic performance by tenor Charles Reid: powerful but always in control, with a beautiful but not too-bright timbre, resounding in all ranges. Et incarnatus est was wonderful.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               -Rheinpfalz


J.S. Bach’s Magnificat & Adventskantate in Esslingen:
“Charles Reid made the best impression. He delivered his aria Die Liebe zieht mit sanften Schritten in perfectly Italianate style, with secure intonation, fluid coloratura and real feeling.” 
                                                                                                                                                                                          -Esslingen Zeitung



Verdi’s Requiem, Columbia Pro Cantare: 
“Verdi’s writing for the solo tenor calls for virility and sensitivity, and Charles Reid provided ample doses of both.” 
                                                                                                                                                                                        -The Baltimore Sun


Rigoletto in Gießen:
“Charles Reid as the Duke, accentuates beautifully his sparkling tenor with emotional polish and charisma.” 
                                                                                                                                                                                     - Gießener Anzeiger


La Traviata in Winterthur:
“Charles Reid possesses a robust and supple tenor voice for Alfredo, which makes him a strong figure in his passionate impulses.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                            -Der Landbote 


Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Camerata New York:
“As Belmonte, Charles Reid was a sheer delight, the uncontested star of the evening.  He sang with ample tone, succulent in the middle, and swelled each phrase before tapering it perfectly, with the terminal consonants neatly punctuating each line in proper German fashion.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                -Opera News

Artist-in-Residence and Associate Professor of Voice at Michigan's Andrews University, Charles Reid is among America's foremost lyric/dramatic tenors, with nearly forty works in his active repertoire.  He is particularly sought after for Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde which he has performed in full-orchestra version with mezzo-soprano Susan Platts at the Bard Festival and with the Toledo Symphony, and in chamber version with Matthias Goerne at the Schubertíada a Vilabertran (Spain) and with JoAnn Falletta at the Virginia Arts Festival (recorded for Naxos).   He is also tenor of choice for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony which he has sung with Jaap van Zweden and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Des Moines Symphony and next performs with Canada's Winnipeg Symphony.   He has been welcomed on many of the world’s opera stages, including the Metropolitan Opera (nine seasons), San Francisco Opera, Theater an der Wien, Frankfurt Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Theater Hagen (first-ever Don Jose in Bizet’s Carmen), as well as the festivals of Bayreuth, Salzburg, Spoleto USA, Glimmerglass and Central City.  Operas-in-concert include Wagner’s Das Rheingold with Jaap von Zweden and the Hong Kong Philharmonic (acclaimed recording released on Naxos) and Der Rosenkavalier with Philippe Jordan and the Opéra National de Paris.   

Mr. Reid's recent seasons have included Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic/Andrew Constantine, Verdi’s Requiem with the Virginia Symphony/JoAnn Falletta, Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio) with the Kalamazoo Symphony/Raymond Harvey, Handel’s Messiah with Columbia Pro Cantare/Frances Dawson, and a recital of American Art Song at the Howard Performing Arts Center.   He has also given concerts with the with Orchestre National de Lyon, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society,  Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lisbon's Gulbenkian Orchestra, Washington, D.C.'s National Symphony, Lincoln Center’s “Mostly Mozart” Festival Orchestra, the Nashville, Allentown, Madison and Harrisburg Symphonies, Rochester and Buffalo Philharmonics and the U.S. Naval Academy.

Prestigious awards include the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, Loren L. Zachary Foundation, Marjorie Lawrence International Vocal Competition.  

Mr. Reid's concert repertoire includes: