Biography
“The word that springs immediately to mind to describe Benjamin Bernheim’s incarnation of Hoffmann is ‘perfect’, so well does the role suit him vocally, verbally, physically and mentally.”
Diapason, reviewing Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Paris Opéra, December 2023
One of the leading tenors of the new generation of singers, Benjamin Bernheim is now in constant demand at the world’s most prestigious opera houses. Critics and audiences alike are regularly captivated by his interpretations of the great lyric tenor roles of Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti, Gounod, Massenet and more. He wins frequent praise for his masterful acting skills as well as for his voice, described as “alluringly beautiful” by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, and has become known for his flawless diction, striking expressive breadth and extensive tonal variety, all of which reflect a rare dedication to the art and craft of singing. “I always try to play with every vocal colour in order to tell a story,” he told GQ Spain in 2021. “That’s what matters most to me: I want to use my voice to transport the audience to other worlds.”
Benjamin Bernheim signed an exclusive long-term contract with Deutsche Grammophon in April 2019. Issued the following November, and presenting a selection of Romantic arias from operas by Berlioz, Donizetti, Godard, Gounod, Massenet, Puccini, Tchaikovsky and Verdi, his DG debut album received rave reviews, with The Sunday Times saying, “… [Bernheim] looks set to be the outstanding French tenor of our time. The arias from Werther, Roméo et Juliette, Manon, Faust, Berlioz’s Damnation and a rarity, Godard’s Dante, reveal a patrician artist whose marrying of words and tone brings a special magic to this underrated music.”
His next album, Boulevard des Italiens, explored the history of Italian opera in Paris. With the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna and conductor Frédéric Chaslin, Bernheim recorded a selection of arias by Cherubini, Spontini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini and Mascagni – all in French. Boulevard des Italiens was released to equal critical acclaim in April 2022. (“Bernheim, who has a voice of immense clarity and lyrical attractiveness, sings Puccini like a dream. But there are also rarer delights aplenty here: elegant poise in Donizetti’s La favorite, heroic dynamism in Spontini’s La vestale and a top-C-packed number from Cherubini’s Ali Baba…, an ideal vehicle for Bernheim’s effortlessly expansive upper range.” – BBC Music Magazine)
He has now recorded his first solo song album, Douce France – Mélodies & Chansons, in collaboration with his regular duo partner Carrie-Ann Matheson. Together they explore the Romantic repertoire in works by Berlioz (Les nuits d’été), Chausson (Poème de l’amour et de la mer) and Duparc, as well as chansons by Brel, Kosma and Trenet. Douce France is released by Deutsche Grammophon on 30 August 2024.
Bernheim began the 2023–24 season by making his role debut as Ruggero in Puccini’s La rondine at the Opernhaus Zürich. He then returned to the Paris Opéra for the title role in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, before going back to Zürich to star as Massenet’s Werther (“Bernheim delivered an outstanding performance … His piano passages were filled with passion and sorrow, while his high notes sparkled with brilliance and desperation” – Bachtrack).
Having made his house debut at the Metropolitan Opera as the Duke in Rigoletto in October 2022, he made a triumphant return to New York as Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette in March 2024 (“Bernheim, every bit the poet-singer, put a succulent sound to elegant use, with transitions between vocal registers that had a buttery seamlessness” – The New York Times). In June, he travelled to Milan to sing Werther at La Scala, where earlier in the season he had given a recital with Carrie-Ann Matheson that featured some of the material recorded for Douce France. The duo joined forces again at the Wiener Staatsoper in April 2024, while the tenor also appeared in an opera gala at the Luxembourg Philharmonie in October and in concerts with soprano Lisette Oropesa in Paris, Milan and Baden-Baden in April/May.
On 11 August 2024, Bernheim took part in the star-studded closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics. He performed Fauré’s Hymne à Apollon (“Hymn to Apollo”), which originated in 1894 when the composer created a harmonised version of an ancient song melody inscribed on stone tablets discovered in the ruins of Delphi.
This summer he plays Hoffmann at the Salzburg Festival (13–30 August), with one performance of Mariame Clément’s new production streamed on STAGE+ on 24 August. He then reprises the role at the Metropolitan Opera, New York (24 September−18 October). Later in the autumn he will give recitals featuring repertoire from Douce France in Los Angeles (9 November), Vienna (14 November), Prague (19 November), Paris (24 November) and Monte Carlo (9 February 2025). The forthcoming season also sees him play the title role in Massenet’s Werther at Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (March/April), Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at the Vienna Staatsoper (May) and Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon at the Paris Opéra (May/June).
Born in Paris in 1985 and raised in Geneva, Benjamin Bernheim was introduced to singing during childhood by his opera-loving parents. He joined the Geneva Conservatory’s children’s choir at ten and, soon after, fell in love with opera when the choir performed in Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci at the Grand-Théâtre in Geneva. He studied at the Conservatoire de Lausanne with Gary Magby, participated in masterclasses with Giacomo Aragall, and attended Carlo Bergonzi’s renowned Accademia Verdiana in Busseto.
In 2008 Bernheim joined Zurich Opera’s International Opera Studio; he returned to the company two years later as a member of its renowned ensemble, and was soon in high demand as a guest artist at the world’s leading opera houses in roles such as Alfredo, Rodolfo and Lensky, as well as performing in productions at the Salzburg Whitsun and Summer festivals. In addition to his many operatic appearances, his schedule now also includes an increasing number of concert and solo recital performances.
In 2020 Bernheim was named Opera Singer of the Year at Les Victoires de la Musique, France’s most prestigious classical music awards, and Musical Personality of the Year by the Syndicat professionnel de la critique de théâtre, musique et danse. His DG debut album won him the Opus Klassik as “Newcomer of the Year” (2020), as well receiving a Diapason d’or and a Choc de Classica, and being named “Album of the Week” by The Sunday Times, among others. In February 2022, Benjamin Bernheim was decorated as Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. Two years later he was again honoured as Opera Singer of the Year at Les Victoires de la musique classique 2024.
8/2024