Carlos Feller

Kalman Felberbaum (30 July 1923 21 December 2018) was an operatic bass singer who enjoyed an international career using the professional/stage name Carlos Feller. Of Polish descent, he grew up in Argentina, and made a career in Germany, based for decades at the Cologne Opera. He specialized in comedic supporting roles, especially bad-guys and strange, quirky characters. His signature role was Don Alfonso in Mozart's Così fan tutte.

Early life

He was born near Lviv in the western part of Ukraine, but which was part of the Second Polish Republic at the time to a Jewish family. The family emigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina, a few years later, and thereby avoided becoming casualties of the Holocaust. His parents originally wanted him to become a dentist; however, he soon began his vocal training at the opera school of the Teatro Colón. His stage career launched with the comprimario role of the doctor in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande there in 1946. regarded as his signature role, and returned in 1990 as Dr. Bartolo in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

He retired after a final concert at the end of 2009. He died in December 2018 in the Bavarian town of Kempten.

Recordings Feller's audio recordings include complete operas, as Dr. Bartolo in both Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, Alfonso in Mozart's Così fan tutte, the notary in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, and roles in Rossini's La cambiale di matrimonio and Il signor Bruschino.

Performances are available on video as Dr. Bartolo (again both Rossini's, and Mozart's), Geronimo in Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto and Bardolfo in Salieri's Falstaff from the 1995 Schwetzingen Festival.