Staatsoper Unter den Linden: Benjamin Bernheim makes his role debut as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca

Press release of 9 October 2026

On 25 October 2026, Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, directed by Alvis Hermanis, returns to the stage of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Benjamin Bernheim will be making his debut in the role of Mario Cavaradossi. He will be joined by Aleksandra Kurzak in the title role, whilst Davide Luciano takes on the role of the police chief, Scarpia. Alexander Soddy will be conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin.

The Franco-Swiss tenor Benjamin Bernheim is one of the most sought-after singers on the international stage and is a regular guest at major opera houses and on international concert stages. His repertoire ranges from key roles in the French repertoire to the great lyric tenor roles of Italian opera. At the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, he most recently appeared as Hoffmann in Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann and in a recital. With the role of Cavaradossi, Bernheim is now taking on one of Giacomo Puccini’s dramatic tenor roles for the first time. With arias such as ‘Recondita armonia’ and ‘E lucevan le stelle’, the role places high demands not only on the lyrical qualities of the voice but also on the singer’s expressive power.

Alvis Hermanis’s production sets the action in the period when the work was composed, around 1900. The result is a psychologically intense chamber drama featuring memorable characters and situations.

Alongside Aleksandra Kurzak, Benjamin Bernheim and Davide Luciano, the cast features Arttu Kataja as Angelotti, Manuel Winckhler as the sacristan, Florian Hoffmann as Spoletta, Temur Bidzishvili as Sciarrone and Irakli Pkhaladze as the jailer. The production also features the State Opera Chorus, rehearsed by Dani Juris, and the State Opera Children’s Chorus.