Joseph Charles Beutel
Media
"The weighty bass-baritone of Joseph Beutel in the roles of the Hotel Manager (Who ultimately ejects the Duchess from his life) and the Judge (who confirms both these acts by laying full blame on the Duchess while ignoring the foibles of the Duke) gave a wonderful intensity to the crude hypocrisy evinced by all three characters.
In Beutel's case alone, the text did carry to the audience, partly because his music is simpler and more direct but also due to his precise enunciation, which made him into a sort of evil evocation of a Gilbert and Sullivan character. Beutel's vocal missiles carried the deepest of misogynistic contempt in his portrayal as someone as much removed from reality as the Duchess, possibly more so."
-Jonathan Richmond, Opera
“Joseph Beutel, as the singing portrait in Alexandre, has to deliver several speeches in French, and he was by now thoroughly comfortable with the language. His resonant singing brought a nice touch of danger to the farmer in Comedy,”
-William V Madison
“Not only was Beutel’s bass robust, but his French diction was the most impressive of the entire cast. In his delivery of several spoken monologues, you could tell that he was hip to the humor of the piece and truly savored the opportunity to inhabit this bizarre role.”
- Richard Peters, Backtrack
“French, a language which sat well with nobody onstage except basso Joseph Beutel, who sang it—and spoke it—with idiomatic aplomb.”
-Eric Myers, NY Classical Review
“Joseph Beutel spoke beautiful French as the portrait of Alexandre and sang beautifully in Czech as the philandering farmer.”
- John Yohalem, Parterre Box
“Bass Joseph Beutel was hilarious as Alexandre’s portrait (sumptuously bearded), which comments on the goings-on (his French diction was particularly good in his spoken lines), and as Bedron, the lecherous farmer and spy who sees Popelka’s plight as an opportunity.”
-Heidi Waleson
“Bass-baritone Joseph Charles Beutel had great stage presence and a deep, well-rounded tone as Lucrezia’s spy Gubetta. His singing particularly raged in the fiery confrontation with Orsini in Act II.”
-Allegri con Fuoco, Lei
“Das amerikanische Sängerensemble - allen voran Joseph Beutel als tröstlicher Sensenmann - agiert solide, kann den deutschen Text aber kaum verständlich über die Rampe bringen.”
-Lena Drazic, Wiener Zeitung
“Sein Gegenspieler, der Tod, wird von Joseph Beutel gesungen, dessen klarer und verständlicher Bassbariton in dieser Interpretation weniger Furcht als Mitleid evoziert.”
-Michaela Preiner, European Cultural News