The French tenor Benjamin Bernheim has recorded his first solo song album. On Douce France, he couples 19th-century mélodies by Berlioz, Chausson and Duparc with 20th-century chansons by Brel, Kosma and Trenet. Over the last year, not only has Benjamin Bernheim given triumphant performances in La rondine, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Werther and Roméo et Juliette, he has also presented acclaimed recitals with his regular duo partner Carrie-Ann Matheson in Munich, Milan and Vienna, and at the Verbier Festival. His programmes included selections from the French repertoire, a rich seam of vocal writing which Bernheim has now mined for Douce France – Mélodies & Chansons. On this, his first solo song album, he explores French Romanticism in works by Berlioz, Chausson and Duparc, before ending with classic chansons by Brel, Kosma and Trenet.