Swiss-born Bernard Richter is one of the most sought-after tenors of his generation.

He gives guest performances at the most important international opera houses, including the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House in London, the Vienna State Opera, Paris National Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Teatro Real in Madrid, Zurich Opera House, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the New National Theatre Tokyo and the Salzburg Festival.

Among his signature roles are the title roles in Pelléas et Mélisande, Idomeno and La clemenza di Tito; other important roles include Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Lurciano (Ariodante) and Chevalier de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites).

His 2025/26 season includes engagements such as the title roles in Pelléas et Mélisande at La Scala and Idomeneo in Luxembourg and at the Vienna State Opera, as well as Don Ottavio with the Budapest Festival Orchestra in Budapest, Vicenza and Baden-Baden. In concert, he will amongst others perform Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, Schumann’s Der Rose Pilgerfahrt in Basel and Händel’s Messiah in der cathedral of Neuchâtel. Furthermore, he will be singing the role of Haman in a recording of Thomas de Hartmann’s opera Esther for the Pentatone label.

In 2024/25, he sang the title roles in La clemenza di Tito under Tomáš Netopil in Geneva and in Pelléas et Mélisande at Paris National Opera. On the concert stage, he could be heard in Schönberg’s Jakobsleiter under Ingo Metzmacher in the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and in Messe solennelle by Berlioz in Bern, as well as in Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony under Sir John Eliot Gardiner on tour to Ferrara, Bologna and Milan and with Bach’s Mass in B-Minor at the Verviel Festival. For the label JBC, he recorded the tenor part in Hugo Alfvén’s Symphony No. 4 under the baton of Lukasz Borowicz.

His 2023/ 24 season began with the continuation of a tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under the baton of Ivan Fischer with performances in various Italian cities, in Budapest and in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie in which Bernard Richter could be heard in the male title role of Pelléas and Mélisande. Following the great success of the new production of Les dialogues des Carmelites at the Vienna State Opera the season prior, in which he portrayed the role of the Chevalier de la Force, he was also been invited to the “house on the Ring” for the revival in January 2024. Another highlight was a new production of La clemenza di Tito at the Hamburg State Opera under Adám Fischer, in which he appeared on stage in the role of the Roman emperor.

Among the greatest successes of his career are engagements as Pelléas (Pelléas et Mélisande) in Tokyo, Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Idomeneo and Schubert’s Fierrabras (title role) at La Scala in Milan, his debut at the Royal Opera House in London in the role of Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), a new production of Ariodante at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre, in which he took the role of Lurciano, and his debut at the Teatro Real Madrid in the title role of La clemenza di Tito.

One of the most important roles in his repertoire is Pelléas. Bernard Richter has appeared in this role at the Vienna State Opera, Teatr Wielki Warsaw, Opéra de Lyon and with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, among others. His repertoire also includes roles such as Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Des Grieux (Manon), Hylas (Les Troyens), Bénédict (Béatrice et Bénédict), Erik (Der fliegende Holländer), Froh (Das Rheingold), Camille de Rossillon (Die lustige Witwe), Fritz (La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein), Paris (La Belle Hélène), Alphonse de Monza in Ferdinand Hérold’s Zampa, as well as the eponymous roles in Lully’s Atys, Lucio Silla and Mitridate.

In addition to his work on the great opera stages, Bernard Richter is also a sought-after concert singer. In 2023, under the direction of Daniele Gatti, he gave several concerts in Rome and Turin with Mendelssohn’s Elisas and Lobgesang, respectively. At the Brucknerhaus Linz, he was most recently heard in Frank Martin’s oratorio Glogotha under the musical direction of Markus Poschner. Haydn’s Creation conducted by Zubin Mehta at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence, Beethoven’s Mass in C-major conducted by William Christie in Madrid, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in St. Petersburg conducted by Teodor Currentzis and with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Philippe Jordan, as well as appearances with the Musiciens du Louvre at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival are further examples of his extensive concert activity.

He also works regularly with orchestras such as that of the Accademia nationale della Santa Cecilia, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, the Berliner Symphoniker, the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, and the Severiges Radios Symfoniorkester in Stockholm, and has appeared on the most important concert stages such as the Salle Gaveau de Paris, the Tonhalle Zurich, the styriarte Graz, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, and the Konzerthaus in Vienna.

Both his operatic and concert engagements have brought Bernard Richter together with the most distinguished conductors of our time, including Philippe Jordan, Daniel Harding, William Christie, Adam Fischer, Kent Nagano, Marc Minkowski, Jeffrey Tate, Ivor Bolton, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Fabio Luisi, Sir Neville Marriner, Sylvain Cambreling, Peter Schneider, Iván Fischer and Raphaël Pichon. He has worked with directors such as Laurent Pelly, Christof Loy, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Keith Warner, Pierre-Emmanuel Rousseau, Jean-Marie Villégier, Christophe Honoré, Zabou Breitman and Kasper Holten.

Following his vocal studies in his home town, he transitioned to the Opera Studio Biel, from where he launched his international career.