Benjamin Bernheim

Benjamin Bernheim (9 June 1985) is a lyric French 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, the title role of 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. 
In his 2019/20 season, he made his role debut as Il Duca di Mantova ("Rigoletto") at the Bayerische Staatsoper, sang Rodolfo ("La bohème") at the Staatsoper Berlin, Alfredo ("La traviata") at the Staatsoper Berlin and Opéra national de Paris (new production), Des Grieux ("Manon", new production) at the Opéra national de Paris and concerts at the Opéra national de Bordeaux, La Grange au Lac and Opernhaus Zürich, and a lied recital with Sabine Devieilhe and Carrie-Ann Matheson at Opernhaus Zürich. 
Bernheim began his 2020/21 season as Alfredo ("La traviata") at the Opéra national de Bordeaux. He performed at Salzburger Festspiele, opened Le Festival de Paris with a recital with Carrie-Ann Matheson, and Philharmonie Luxembourg (also a recital with Matheson). Bernheim is set to perform the title role in Faust at the Opéra national de Paris in a new production in Spring 2021. He was scheduled to make his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as Roméo in Gounod’s "Roméo et Juliette", but the production was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
In 2020 he was named "Artiste lyrique de l'année" at Les Victoires de la Musique Classique in France, among other awards (see Awards section). He began his season as Alfredo (La Traviata) at the Opéra national de Bordeaux. 
He signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon in 2018, and his debut album, recorded with the PKF - Prague Philharmonia, conducted by Emmanuel Villaume was released on November 8th, 2019. 