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

He regularly appears at the world’s leading opera houses, including La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House in London, the Vienna State Opera, the Paris National Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, Zurich Opera House, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the New National Theatre Tokyo, and the Salzburg Festival.

His signature roles include the title roles in Pelléas et Mélisande, Idomeneo, and La clemenza di Tito, as well as Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Lurcanio (Ariodante), and Chevalier de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites).

In the 2026/27 season, Bernard Richter will appear in several performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, among others with  the Staatskapelle Dresden under Daniele Gatti, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Lahav Shani, and the Copenhagen Philharmonic under Marc Minkowski. He will also perform the role of Narraboth in Strauss’s Salome at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. Another Highlight will be his recording of Debussy´s Pelléas et Mélisande with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Kent Nagano.

Highlights of the 2025/26 season included the title role in Pelléas et Mélisande at La Scala, Idomeneo in Luxembourg and at the Vienna State Opera, and Don Ottavio with the Budapest Festival Orchestra in Budapest, Vicenza, and Baden-Baden. On the concert stage, he performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Schumann’s Der Rose Pilgerfahrt in Basel, and Handel’s Messiah at Neuchâtel Cathedral. He also recorded the role of Haman in Thomas de Hartmann’s opera Esther for the Pentatone label.

During the 2024/25 season, he appeared in the title roles of La clemenza di Tito under Tomáš Netopil in Geneva and Pelléas et Mélisande at the Paris National Opera. His concert engagements included Schoenberg’s Die Jakobsleiterwith Ingo Metzmacher at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Berlioz’s Messe solennelle in Bern, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under Sir John Eliot Gardiner on tour in Ferrara, Bologna, and Milan, and Bach’s Mass in B minor at the Verbier Festival. He also recorded the tenor solo in Hugo Alfvén’s Symphony No. 4 with conductor Łukasz Borowicz for the label jpc.

His 2023/24 season opened with the continuation of a European tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer, performing the male title role in Pelléas et Mélisande in Budapest, several Italian cities, and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. Following the acclaimed new production of Dialogues des Carmélites at the Vienna State Opera in the previous season, in which he portrayed Chevalier de la Force, he returned for the revival in January 2024. Another major highlight was a new production of La clemenza di Tito at Hamburg State Opera under Ádám Fischer, where he sang the role of the Roman emperor.

Among the outstanding achievements of his career are appearances as Pelléas in Tokyo; Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Idomeneo, and the title role in Schubert’s Fierrabras at La Scala; his Royal Opera House debut as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte; a new production of Ariodante at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre as Lurcanio; and his Teatro Real Madrid debut in the title role of La clemenza di Tito.

One of the defining roles of Bernard Richter’s repertoire is Pelléas. He has performed the role at the Vienna State Opera, Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in Warsaw, Opéra de Lyon, and with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. His broad repertoire also includes 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 Rosillon (Die lustige Witwe), Fritz (La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein), Paris (La Belle Hélène), Alphonse de Monza in Hérold’s Zampa, as well as the title roles in Lully’s Atys, Lucio Silla, and Mitridate.

Alongside his operatic career, Bernard Richter is also a highly acclaimed concert singer. In 2023 he gave several concerts in Rome and Turin with Daniele Gatti, performing Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Lobgesang. Recent concert highlights include Frank Martin’s Golgotha at the Brucknerhaus Linz under Markus Poschner, Haydn’s The Creationwith Zubin Mehta at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Beethoven’s Mass in C major under William Christie in Madrid, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under Teodor Currentzis in St. Petersburg and with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Philippe Jordan, as well as appearances with Les Musiciens du Louvre at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival.

He has collaborated regularly with renowned orchestras including the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Berliner Symphoniker, MDR Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. His concert appearances have taken him to prestigious venues such as the Salle Gaveau in Paris, Tonhalle Zurich, styriarte Graz, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and the Vienna Konzerthaus.

Bernard Richter’s opera and concert engagements have brought him together with many of today’s foremost conductors, including Philippe Jordan, Daniel Harding, William Christie, Ádám 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 also worked with distinguished stage directors including Laurent Pelly, Christof Loy, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Keith Warner, Pierre-Emmanuel Rousseau, Jean-Marie Villégier, Christophe Honoré, Zabou Breitman, and Kasper Holten.

After completing his vocal studies in his native Switzerland, Bernard Richter joined the Opera Studio Biel, from where he launched his international career.