I must admit that I agree about Karen's critique of Heppner: judging only from Met broadcasts, and recordings, he has a smaller than ideal voice for Tristan, like everyone else :o) Beautiful under other circumstances, though. BTW I feel it is possible to judge the size of a voice in a broadcast by what you can hear of breathing and consonants - and I think the Met managed to mike Heppner quite closely for the recent Tristan - you could almost hear him blink ;o) The superlative Met orchestra does snarl a bit in Wagner though, must be tempting to force the tone of one's singing. However, I think Melchior is fantastic. john
At 15:47 04/04/00 -0400, you wrote: ... >Heppner's voice still manages to retain an Italianate quality and a >lyrical sweetness that make him truly a joy to listen to. > >I am not convinced, though, that he is absolute Heldentenor material. I'm >delighted when I hear him in Fidelio and Lohengrin, and I think he could >do wonders with Siegmund and Parsifal. But I'm not sure if Siegfried, for >example, wouldn't be pushing the envelope just a little too far; I really >think Tristan is on the outer reach of heaviness for his instrument - but >that's just me based on hearing his live Met broadcast and some other live >broadcasts of his voice. > >In a way, I also think it's a shame that he seems to have chosen to >specialise in German repertoire. Not because we don't desperately need a >good Wagnerian tenor (after years of suffering through Siegfried >Jerusalem and James King barking their way through the repertoire), but >because his voice is truly beautiful, and I'd love to hear it used in some >of the Italian tenore di forza repertoire, like Aida and La Forza del >Destino and Otello and Dick Johnson, and in French heroic roles like >Rodrigue in Le Cid and Samson. What I hear in Heppner is the best >possible successor to Domingo in that repertoire (and as much as I love >Placido, I have to admit that Heppner has a much easier upper register >than Domingo ever has). I just hate to think he's going to be wasted on >Wagner where the full potential of his vocal beauty just won't get heard. > >Karen Mercedes ... John Blyth Baritone, inter alia. Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
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