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From:  John Alexander Blyth <BLYTHE@B...>
Date:  Tue Apr 4, 2000  10:16 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist-temporary] Ben Heppner


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



  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
139 Re: Ben Heppner Jeffrey Joel   Tue  4/4/2000   3 KB
146 Re: Ben Heppner Margaret Harrison   Wed  4/5/2000   3 KB

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