Richard Bernstein

About Richard Bernstein

A Metropolitan Opera company member since his debut in 1995, acclaimed bass Richard Bernstein has appeared with the MET in close to 600 performances – he will reach that milestone in the 2025-26 season – and more than 125 international live broadcasts to date, including 25 Live in HD performances broadcast in cinemas worldwide. In 2022, he won a GRAMMY® Award as part of the cast of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, performing the role of Aye in the Met’s production, which took home Best Opera Recording that year.He has performed with companies and festivals around the country and abroad, including Los Angeles Opera, Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Washington Opera, Central City Opera, Opera Maine, Bravo! Vail Festival, New Jersey Choral Society, Spoleto Festival, Ravinia Festival, Tanglewood, Cincinnati May Festival, the Savonlinna Festival (Finland), and the Klangbogen Festival in Vienna.Mr. Bernstein’s repertoire ranges from classics of the opera canon to contemporary American works. He created roles in two world premieres by composer Tobias Picker: Orville Mason in An American Tragedy and Laurent in Thérèse Raquin, and he sang the role of Marco in William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge at both its Metropolitan Opera premiere and at Washington Opera.In the latest addition to his recording catalogue, he can be heard in American composer David Shire’s contribution to the 2022 recording of The Abrahamic Symphony, commissioned and produced by the Abu Dhabi Festival. Comprising pieces that represent each of the three Abrahamic faiths, the work features compositions by Shire, John Debney and Ihab Darwish.Besides his full performance schedule, Mr. Bernstein teaches private voice students, in person at his studios in New Jersey and New York City, and virtually. He also regularly judges regional and district auditions for the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, a national competition designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers.Born and raised in New York, Mr. Bernstein is a graduate of the University of Southern California.

Experience

1. Principal Artist

   Metropolitan Opera

   Oct 1995 — Present

   For the most updated record, please - Fedora (Boroff), Falstaff, Die Zauberflote, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Dialogues des CarmélitesCover Roles: Idomeneo, Peter Grimes, Don Carlo, Aida, Tosca and Der Fliegende Holländer (Daland)20••••22 - Nikitich in Boris Godunov (Live in HD), Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin, the Old Servant in Elektra, his role debut as Foltz in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and a return to the role of Aye in the sensational Met production of Akhnaten. 20••••20 - Akhnaten (Aye), Macbeth, Wozzeck and Die Zauberflöte20••••19 - Pistola in Falstaff, along with roles in Carmen, La fanciulla del West, and Dialogues des Carmélites.2016-17 - Mayor in Jenufa; Captain in Manon Lescaut; 2nd Soldier in Salome; Zaretski in Eugene Onegin.Cover Roles: Steersman in Tristan und Isolde; Gesler in Guillaume Tell; Zuniga in Carmen; Voice of Neptune in Idomeneo; Le Bret in Cyrano 2015-16 - Angelotti in Tosca; Captain February in Manon Lescaut (Live HD); Pietro in Simon Boccanegra. Cover Roles: Enrico in Anna Bolena; Old Servant in Elektra2014-15 - Un Ballo in Maschera, Carmen, Ernani, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Macbeth, The Merry Widow. 2013-14 - Zaretski in Eugene Onegin (Live in HD); Police Commissioner in Der Rosenkavalier; Angelotti in Tosca (Live in HD); First Apprentice in Wozzeck; Commissioner in Madama Butterfly. 2012-13 - Panthus in Les Troyens (Live in HD, Jan 5, 2013); Zuniga in Carmen; Wagner in Faust, 2nd Commissioner in Dialogues des Carmélites; Fafner (cover) in both Das Rheingold and Siegfried; Tom (cover) in Un ballo in maschera; and the Frate (cover) in Don Carlo.Pre: 20••••13 - Giacomo Balducci - Benvenuto Cellini (2003), 2nd Soldier - Salome (2004), Marco - A View from the Bridge (2002), Figaro - Le nozze di Figaro (1998, Leporello-Don Giovanni (2003), Masetto-Don Giovanni (1997, 2004)