Benjamin Bernheim (9 June 1985) is a French lyric tenor known for his interpretation of Italian and French roles.
Education
Born in Paris, Benjamin Bernheim grew up in Geneva, where he studied violin and piano, before starting singing lessons at age 10 at the local conservatory. At age 18, he began his studies at the HEM Lausanne Conservatory (now called HEMU), under the tutelage of Gary Magby. Following the completion of his studies, he was accepted into the Opera Studio at Opernhaus Zürich for the 2008/2009 season.
Career
Benjamin Bernheim's repertoire currently includes: Rodolfo in La Bohème, Des Grieux (Manon), Alfredo in La traviata, title role in Faust, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, Verdi's Requiem, Puccini's Messa di Gloria, and Lenski in Eugene Onegin. He is now a frequent guest of the Opernhaus Zürich, the Royal Opera House in London, the Staatsoper Berlin, Deutsche Oper, the Semperoper Dresden, the Wiener Staatsoper, the Opéra national de Paris, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opera national de Bordeaux, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and the Whitsun Festival in Salzburg and Salzburger Festspiele.
Bernheim joined the Opernhaus Zürich troupe in 2010, where he was engaged to perform in myriad productions, including: Emmanuele in the world premiere of Marc-André Dalbavie's Gesualdo, directed by Patrice Caurier et Moshe Leiser.
In 2012, he made his Salzburg Festival debut as Agenore in Il re pastore by Mozart in the concert version of the opera, conducted by William Christie. Between 2012 and 2015 he added multiple roles to his repertoire, most notedly: Cassio (Otello), Narraboth (Salome), Tebaldo (I Capuleti è I Montechi), Matteo (Arabella), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Spakos (Cléopatre), and Eginhard (Fierrabras). He also made his debut at the Opéra national de Bordeaux, Semperoper Dresden and the Whitsun and Summer Festival in Salzburg.
The 2015/16 season marked a turning point in his career, as he began making his debut in leading tenor roles at opera houses throughout Europe and the United States. He performed as Rodolfo (La bohème) at Opernhaus Zürich, Erik (Der Fliegende Holländer) and Matteo (Arabella) at Semperoper Dresden, Cassio (Otello) at Salzburg Osterfestspiele, Tebaldo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) at Opernhaus Zurich, Italian Singer (Der Rosenkavalier) at Teatro alla Scala, and as Roméo in Berlioz’ Roméo et Juliette at Dutch National Opera. He also performed at the Salzburger Festspiele (Pfingsten) Gala Concert.
Bernheim's international success continued to grow in the 2016/17 season. He returned to Opernhaus Zürich as Rodolfo in La bohème, and also performed there as Cassio in their production of Otello. Other roles included Edmondo (Manon Lescaut) and Nicias (Thaïs) at Salzburger Festspiele, Rodolfo (La bohème) at Semperoper Dresden, Lenski in Eugene Onegin at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Laërtes (Hamlet) at Opéra de Lausanne, and the title role of Faust at Latvian National Opera and Ballet. In addition to these performances, Bernheim performed with Orchestra dell'Accademia Teatro alla Scala and Philharmonie de Paris in 2017, and also performed a recital presented by L’instant Lyrique.
In the 2017/18 season, Bernheim championed the role of Rodolfo in La bohème, performing it in two productions at Royal Opera House London and once at Opéra national de Paris. He performed as Alfredo (La traviata) at Staatsoper Berlin and Opernhaus Zürich, and as the title role of Faust at Lyric Opera of Chicago and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. In 2018, he made his role debuts of Nemorino in L'Elisir d'amore at Wiener Staatsoper, and Piquillo in La Périchole at Salzburger Festspiele, performed a recital at Opéra national de Bordeaux, and returned for a concert with Philharmonie de Paris.
Bernheim's 2018/2019 season began with La Boheme at the Zurich Opera House where he sang Rofolfo, a role he reprised at the Vienna State Opera. This was followed by Tamino in The Magic Flute directly afterwards. Other performances included La Traviata at the Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan, the Opéra national de Paris, and Nemorino (L'Elisir d'amore) at Wiener Staatsoper. He also made his role debut as Des Grieux in Manon at the Opéra national de Bordeaux. His second role debut of the season was Ismaele in Verdi's Nabucco at the Zurich Opera House. In concert Bernheim performed Puccini's Messa di Gloria with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano and at the Wiener Staatsoper celebration commemorating 150 Years Vienna State Opera being on the Ring. Additionally, he performed a concert with soprano Ermonela Jaho at Opera Oviedo, as well as a recital presented by L’instant Lyrique.