In conversation with Benjamin Bernheim about crossing borders on his new album Douce France and his most touching stage experience

06. September 2024

Rubrik Interviews

©Julia Wesely

With his first album of French songs called "Douce France" the charismatic tenor also proves to be utmost versatile if it comes to building a bridge between classical Melodies and popular Chansons by standing strong to the operatic legacy. Thus he vocally raises the popular Chansons up to a level which makes them musically shine the most elegant.

Returning from the closing ceremony of the Olympic games, yet again the tenor proves being able to spread the good news about opera to millions of audiences, which, the tenor states, is the last artform that does not require any technology to carry it´s magic. 

Operaversum: You are now singing in Tales of Hoffmann, which is a brand new production, which you premiered at Salzburger Festspiele 13th August. So what can the audience expect from this opera and how does it feel for you to revisit the role of Hoffmann?

Benjamin Bernheim: Well, this stage production by Mariame Clément is very special indeed since she is turning Hoffmann into a film maker, sticking with the idea that a lot of big success stories of companies were originally made in a garage. So Hoffmann is about to make his first movie together with his professor and his best friend Nicklausse, not having any budget at all.

Whilst being all passionate about his profession as a film maker, he falls deeply in love with the professor´s daughter Olympia, who is much older than Hoffmann.

Then years later, Hoffmann succeeds in making his career as a film maker and is now together with Antonia. But strange enough he wants to be with her all the time, even though he puts himself in the epi-centre of being the most important person, that exists.

So as part of the plot Mariame Clément also digs into the position of men and women of today, by portraying Hoffmann´s fears that Antonia may become a bigger actress than he wants her to be.

For him she is getting too independent and too successful, which makes him want to stop her right in her tracks. And this is something we witness still a lot in any industry or even in private life. There is so many stories about man saying: "This is were you stop being good." 

Operaversum: Since women can get too dangerous! 

Benjamin Bernheim: Of course! Still in our modern world a woman who is too talented can be dangerous for a man. As in Hoffmann´s case the minute Antonia choses to stand up for her dreams, his worst nightmares materialize.

And this is a very strong vision of Mariam Clement to portray Hoffmann as an artist who has talent, but at the same time is haunted by his own demons and sad enough considers women to be a big threat.

It is a big contradiction though because at the same time men are in love with women, adoring them, making them a godess or a queen.

Operaversum: As long as they obey! 

Benjamin Bernheim: As long as women do not want too much. And this is very interesting because it tells a lot about a world that I hope is about to end. 

©Julia Wesely

Operaversum: Hopefully it does! 

Benjamin Bernheim: Hopefully. I really think we will be experiencing the other extreme for a while, which may turn out to be compliated for the Western world. Though we have to accept that it will become like this. Eventually I think it is all about finding a good balance to show that talent has neither sex nor gender.

Talent is talent as much as beauty is beauty, no matter if we are talking about women, men or transgender. As for me in Tales of Hoffmann the most important message I showcase is that no matter how talented Hoffmann truly is, he also is his own enemy right from the beginning.

And that is a very strong essence of the story because we as artists go through all these kinds of struggles, feeling at times treated unfairly, blaming everybody else for our failures, which is never helpful though. 

Operaversum: ...which of course is a very human feeling! 

Benjamin Bernheim: It absolutely is. Hoffmann cannot help but continue blaming his demons, blaming her. Whenever he would see a poster of her, he is being painfully reminded that he should have reached what she has achieved. And that also shows how the ego, any ego,  can come in the way. So making this the centre of the storyline is very interesting.

And yes, I am putting my voice at the service of this story, which I have to tell. Meeting up with Mariam Clement was truly a turning point in my career in terms of taking perspective and choosing the freedom to play and act on stage.

Operaversum: That sounds wonderful. So tomorrow will be the next performance?

Benjamin Bernheim: Yes, indeed. And I will feel fresher, as the premiere of Tales of Hoffmannn was followed by an absolutely incredible event, which was performing for the closing ceremony of the Olympic games in Paris.

I was extremely hyped and in a sheer tunnel of focus. I can say the singing at the Olympics certainly meant a great deal in my career.

Operaversum: I do recall this amazing closing ceremony where you were dressed up in a designer suit made by Dior and Kevin Germanier. Participating at such a big sportive event which attracts masses, plus performing opera and spreading it out to such a broad audience, how did that feel for you?

Benjamin Bernheim: It was really amazing, since I had the pleasure to also work together with the stage director Thomas Jolly with whom I had already done Romeo and Juliette at the Opera National de Paris. So Thomas Jolly had a brilliant idea for my perfomance at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games by taking Gabriel Fauret´s 100 year old composition of "Hymne to Apollo", shortening it and thus making it a brand new version which would fit my operatic voice perfectly.

So the whole venue was such an amazing experience for me to be surrounded by all these athletes, dancers and the pianist, knowing that hundreds of millions of people were watching this spectacular event.

But what thrilled me most about my peformance there was, that it brought across the idea that opera still lives, is alive and does not necessarily consist of a 100 year old composition. Opera can also be something that is recomposed or rearranged to spread its beauty to a bigger audience.

Operaversum:  ...which also seems to be your intention to attract more music lovers  by mixing genres on your new album "Douce France" which is due to be released 30th August this year. So you decided for compiling melodies of the romantic ara and chansons of the 20th century?

Benjamin Bernheim:  I did, because with "Douce France" I am trying to build a vocal bridge between the two genres by adding classical French melodies and combining them with Chansons to show that I can actually sing them all the same way and with the same vocal perspective, which means that I am not changing my voice inbetween genres.

I am not becoming a crooner or a popular singer. I sing Trenet like I sing Duparc to get music lovers to meet in the grey zone. You know crossing borders into the more popular genre has been forbidden for opera singers for decades, which means you either are a popular singer or a well-respected opera singer.

But considering that opera once used to be a very popular art form, reachable for everyone, not only for the aristocracy and the nobelty, but also for the poor, opera was the artform which everybody knew. Thus arias were even considered "Ohrwürmer". 

So with my new album I want to show that with my tenor voice I can cross borders from one genre to the other, thus trying to stop people from being in a Fachmode that tells you classical music is valuable, whereas popular music is rubbish.

As long as we stick to quality in our work, both genres can be considered with respect. I remember someone telling me that listening to my album is as if I was adding  blue jeans and white sneakers to the French melodies and a beautiful black suit to the chansons. And I think that statement gets exactly to the heart of the matter, I want to bring across.

Operaversum: That is a wonderful approach! 

Benjamin Bernheim: Thank you. We will see how it is received by the audience, But one thing is for sure, I do stand for it with 100 percent comittment. I put three chansons to own it and to show that this album is something that I really live for. 

©Edouard Brane

Operaversum:  And is there one song on the new album which appeals most to you? 

Benjamin Bernheim: Well, first of all there is the title of the album "Douce France" which I chose because it tells a lot about what I transported with my voice into the album such as the sweetness and the musicality.

But considering that we are currently living in very troubled times "Quand on n´a que l´amour by Brel is a song which we should really listen to and also get to understand the lyrics in full depth and basically stick to what we have.

Even though we are very privileged people in Western Europe, we must worship what we have. Quand on n´a que l amour is a very beautiful song.

Operaversum: You are living and working with your voice day by day. Is that a dream come true for you or can that turn out to be a drama sometimes as well? 

Benjamin Bernheim: It is a very balanced mix of the two, because if you do not know anything about life experiences which both can be good or bad, then you do not have too much to share with the audience.

Of course having my voice is a dream come true, even though everybody may have different dreams about that. But one of my dreams was to sing Hoffmann in Salzburg one day, something that happens ones in a lifetime as much as my performance at the Olympic games.

So living and working with my voice can be a dream for sure, but also a drama at times, since we experience things in life that are hard to face. So life experiences can help us tell a good story in the end.

Operaversum: And it also enriches your way of interpreting a song, a story...

Benjamin Bernheim: I do believe so. Hoffmann for example sings in one of his arias "We are great with love, but even greater with tears". Suffering, opening wounds, going through hardship, which of course is never easy, makes our personality grow.

Operaversum: And what makes an outstanding tenor in your opinion. Which vocal and acting attributes does a tenor of today need to excel?

Benjamin Bernheim: That is certainly not for me to decide, it is the critics choice! 

Operaversum: Why do you think so? 

Benjamin Bernheim: I think people define us in how they judge us. For example, if I am giving an interview and state that I am either A, B, C or D, which in the end may not ressonate with the general opinion can possibly make me appear like a very arrogant person.

I do not like etiquette, But what I can say is that I am a very hard working tenor and on top I am a storyteller. If people want to call me a big tenor, a star, the best this or the best that, it is in their hands to define me as a tenor.

Operaversum: Could you tell me about your most unforgettable stage experience and what made it so special? 

Benjamin Bernheim: It is certainly the production of Romeo and Juliette staged by Barklet Share at the Metropolitan Opera last spring.

And honestly I had the same feeling a year ago at the Opera National de Paris when Thomas Jolly did  this new staging of Romeo and Juliette.

The moment when at the end of my aria "Ah! lève-toi, soleil" I was standing on stage all alone and sang "Vien parais, viens parais" holding this last high note, it was giving me this feeling of being emotionally almost naked in front of the audience. And that was a very special stage experience indeed. 

Operaversum: In a very few words: What defines for you the magic of opera? 

Benjamin Bernheim: It is the last artform in the world that does not require technology to carry its magic. 

Operaversum: Thank you very much for your time and sharing with me all these inspiring insights. Wishing you Toi, toi, toi for all your forthcoming performances.

©Julia Wesely

Selten hört man sie, diese betörend fein geschliffenen französischen Melodien. Seltener noch hört man sie aus dem Munde eines Tenors, der noch dazu Muttersprachler ist und eine besonders charmante Brücke zwischen dem klassischen Liedgenre und den populären Chansons schlägt.