Roméo et Juliette: “Ah! lève-toi soleil!”

Benjamin Bernheim sings an excerpt from Roméo’s Act II aria in an early dress rehearsal. Production: Bartlett Sher. Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin. 2023–24 season. Videography by Pete Scalzitti.

[CC-qyvj]

Had the pleasure of seeing this in person today. His voice gave me chills and made me weep. The youtube audio doesn't do him justice. It flattens out a voice that feels three dimensional, like a generous skein of gold being tossed gently from the stage into your lap. Each note was so pure and clean, but rich and full; metaphor-wise, it was like a goddamn trumpet heralding a strong sunrise in a quiet hillside.

[someonesth]

magnificent! i saw him in Paris and the whole opera was just an absolute marvel
benjamin bernheim nails this part and brings tears to your eyes

[agnessaal]

Simply gorgeous... Perfect happiness !!

[barrymorentz]

I was moved to tears last night by his gorgeous singing! The purity of his sound, his musical sensitivity, the modulation of his voice…I could go on and on. And Nadine Sierra was also nothing less than fabulous. One of my most glorious experiences at the Met in 57 years of attending.

[rosy]

ça c'est du spectacle avec costumes, décors fabuleux et distribution magnifique ! Bravo le MET !

[moorfan]

Saw the premiere at the Met. This is indeed a very beautiful voice, and Mr. Bernheim appears to have very good control of his instrument. It is a nice, bright, light lyric voice, I would think perfect for the French repertoire. If he shepherds his gifts well, he will be the preeminent interpreter of his generation of the great French roles.

[Aneta_Skarzynski]

Delightful musicality, legato, timbre of tenor voice. I listen and forget about technique...

[hannahwhite]

I absolutely *love* his voice!!! I think it’s absolutely beautiful and moving. I’m sure everyone hating cannot sing or perform like him, nor were they ever given a role at the MET. Just saying.

[reginarenzowajurgens]

The BEST Romeo in this He sing the right Technique "sul fiato" and in right Resonanse. French language is right in the singing maske. Beutiful, magnific singing, beautiful action on the stage.

[morganhunt]

Man, some of these comments are stupid and getting way more likes than they should. Bernheim is a true French tenor, more nasality than the old school Italian tenors it's true, but this voice is SQUILLANTE. I've never seen him live but everyone I've talked to says he just FILLS the theatre with sound. You can even hear the ring in this video. This is not an amateur voice, my god!

[emanff]

Bro sounds awesome! Don't know what y'all on about

[goscinnydyrygent]

Wow fascinating comments! This is one of the few current singers who can really sing, and most people are recognizing that. I don't quite understand the dissents. His singing is easy, the high notes ring, the voice is even, he's relaxed, nothing is strained, nothing seems beyond his reach. OK, the sound is a little "laid-back, " maybe in some ways almost too relaxed, a little sluggish in the vibrato -- but we're talking about a very high level here. Nobody in the Forza revival sang this well. (And yes, the people saying his voice "fills the theater" are correct.)

[frankveliz]

Saw this at the met in March with some colleagues. As a tenor in my undergraduate, his performance was such a life changing event for me. Definitely inspired me to keep working to get to this level one day.

[christianeflamand]

Benjamin, Tu me fais pleurer d'émotion, tu es merveilleux en tous points Je t'adore Christiane ( Belgique)

[wotan]

I’ve seen him in the theater. I can assure you that his voice blossoms in the theater, which you can’t hear in a YT video. Bernheim has one of the most thrilling voices I’ve ever heard — and I’ve seen them all since the 1970s, including Kraus and Gedda.

[jjlungdoc]

Bravo Bernheim.! Too short of a video but enough to get a good idea of his singing.
The Met is going through a most welcome revival: Forza, Butterfly and now ( hopefully) R&J. The tenor is French and so was Gounod. The typical French sound is supposed to be “ covered” and sometimes it sounds even nasal. The open vowels sung in Italian is a different matter. This is probably one of the reasons why Pavarotti or Corelli did not sound great in French compared to, for example, Kraus who did understand the difference.
If students at IU sound like Bernheim that must be the best opera temple in the world.

[КонстантинЕлисеев-эн]

Роль отработана, "впета". Он на своем месте. Многовато горловой эмиссии - возможно, специально для создания эффекта "спинто", полетности звука - покрыть большой зал. Крайние верха немного недотягивает (фальшь): 0:32, 1:16. Слушать его в целом можно

[iloveopera]

Sadly always disconnected with what he is singing, no matter what he is singing. He is missing a real pair of b*lls, and is certainly not a convincing Romeo. Where is the stamina, where is the strength, where is the charm of Romeo?

[marcelbureau]

I am listening at this opera right now live on the radio. This singer has an underdeveloped voice (like so many singers these days) with no core and chest contribution. The voice is small and dull. He has a good and nice voice but the proper technique that would have given its full potential was never acquired. If he can be heard in the a big theatre like the Met is most likely because of a sound amplification of some sort like is now done in most theatres because singers cannot project their voice anymore. Operatic singing is not crooning like we hear here.

[AndriyaPradiptaKarim]

Benjamin, I want your voice when a sing are can be able to exact of the same as when you are a speak


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