New Year’s Eve Concert with Kirill Petrenko and Benjamin Bernheim

“A big chest and a big mouth”
On the myth of the tenor

A tenor’s high C remains the non plus ultra of male singing. For centuries, tenors have been at the centre of the musical world: Enrico Caruso, Mario Del Monaco, Giuseppe Di Stefano and Franco Corelli were all fêted like rock stars. But this is about far more than mere vocal acrobatics, a point amply demonstrated by Benjamin Bernheim, the soloist of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s forthcoming New Year’s Eve Concert. We examine the myth of the tenor.

Biography

Kirill Petrenko

Kirill Petrenko has been chief conductor and artistic director of the Berliner Philharmoniker since the 2019/20 season. Born in Omsk in Siberia, he received his training first in his home town and later in Austria. He established his conducting career in opera with positions at the Meininger Theater and the Komische Oper Berlin. From 2013 to 2020, Kirill Petrenko was general music director of Bayerische Staatsoper. He has also made guest appearances at the world’s leading opera houses, including Wiener Staatsoper, Covent Garden in London, the Opéra national in Paris, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and at the Bayreuth Festival. Moreover, he has conducted the major international symphony orchestras – in Vienna, Munich, Dresden, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Rome, Chicago, Cleveland and Israel. Since his debut in 2006, a variety of programmatic themes have emerged in his work together with the Berliner Philharmoniker. These include work on the orchestra’s core Classical-Romantic repertoire, for example with symphonies by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Brahms. Unjustly forgotten composers such as Josef Suk and Erich Wolfgang Korngold are another of Kirill Petrenko’s interests. Russian works are also highlighted, with performances of Tchaikovsky’s operas Mazeppa, Iolanta and The Queen of Spades attracting particular attention recently.

Benjamin Bernheim

The Süddeutsche Zeitung hailed him as having “the most beautiful tenor voice since Luciano Pavarotti,” while a reviewer for the French daily Le Monde declared him “simply breathtaking.” Benjamin Bernheim, who was named Singer of the Year at the International Opera Awards 2024, is celebrated by both critics and audiences as the leading tenor of his generation—a singer who, with impeccable diction, shimmering pianissimi, and a luminous middle register, appears regularly on the world’s most prestigious stages. These include the Opéra de Paris, the Vienna State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Born in Paris, Bernheim studied at the Conservatory of Lausanne with Gary Magby, attended the Accademia Verdiana Carlo Bergonzi in Busseto, and was a member of the International Opera Studio before joining the ensemble of Zurich Opera House. He rose to prominence particularly in the roles of Rodolfo (La Bohème), Des Grieux (Manon), and Alfredo (La Traviata). His repertoire has since expanded to include Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto), Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Roméo (Roméo et Juliette), and the title role in Gounod’s Faust. Bernheim also shines on the concert stage, where his particular affinity for the French repertoire is evident. He has appeared in recital at the Salzburg Festival, among other venues, and has recently garnered acclaim in performances of Verdi’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria. With these concerts, he makes his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic.