French counter-tenor Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian is one of the most exciting young vocal talents of our time. Formerly a HSBC Révélation award-winner at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, he is a graduate of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles and Conservatoire de Paris.
Highlights of the 2024/25 season include performances of ‘Polifemo’ as Ulisse at Opéra de Lille and Château de Versailles and Endimione in ‘La Calisto’ at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. On the concert platform, Paul-Antoine will sing the title role in a tour of ‘Tamerlano’ under the baton of René Jacobs with the Freiburger Barockorchester, Trasemede in ‘Merope’ with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, along with performances with Le Poème Harmonique and Café Zimmermann.
The 2023/24 season saw Paul-Antoine sing the roles of Ottone in ‘L’incoronazione di Poppea’ at Opéra de Rennes and Oper Köln, and Ulisse in ‘Polifemo’ at Opéra national du Rhin under the baton of Emmanuelle Haïm. He performed a Vivaldi recital with Café Zimmermann, the title role in Scarlatti’s ‘Il Mitridate Eupatore’ at the Het Concertgebouw under the baton of Thibault Noally, Handel’s ‘Messiah’ with Accentus and Laurence Equilbey with performances at La Seine Musicale, Opéra national du Capitole de Toulouse and Palau de la Música; a Bach recital at Bozar Brussels; and ‘St Matthew Passion’ at Opéra de Rennes.
In the 2022/23 season, Paul-Antoine sang the role of Oberon in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Opéra de Rouen, Athamas in ‘Semele’ at Opéra de Lille with Emmanuelle Haim, Farnace in ‘Mitridate’ at the Staatsoper Berlin, the title role of ‘Giulio Cesare’ at the Festival International de Beaune and Alessandro in ‘Tolomeo’ with Il Pomo d’Oro, touring to Teatro Real, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Elbphilharmonie, and Katowice.
Previous highlights include Farnace in ‘Mitridate’ with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre (featuring a commercial recording) at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía Valencia, Ottone in ‘Agrippina’ in Halle, and Marte in Legrenzis ‘La divisione del mondo’ at Opéra Royal de Versailles, both with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset, Unulfo in ‘Rodelinda’ at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with Le Concert d’Astrée/Emmanuelle Haïm, the title role in ‘Rinaldo’ at Opéra de Rennes, La Voce di Deo in Scarlatti’s ‘Il primo omicido’ with Philippe Jaroussky in Salzburg, Tolomeo in ‘Guilio Cesare’ with English Touring Opera, as well as concerts and a recording of Purcell Odes (also with Le Banquet Céleste), and his debut appearance with the prestigious Comédie-Française in Paris in ‘La nuit des rois’. (Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ in an adaptation by Thomas Ostermeier).
More recently, he made his Moscow debut with the Bolshoi Theatre as Polinesso in ‘Ariodante’, conducted by Gianluca Capuano, and sang Didymus in ‘Theodora’ with Il Pomo d’Oro, alongside Joyce DiDonato, Lisette Oropesa and Michael Spyres, at Theater an der Wien, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and La Scala, Milan, with a live recording to follow. Other highlights include Nireno in ‘Giulio Cesare’, also at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées and Ottone in ‘L’incoronazione di Poppea’ for the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.