Vocalist.org archive


From:  Jeffrey Joel <JSJoel@c...>
Date:  Tue Apr 4, 2000  10:26 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.

I have heard Heppner once live (a few years ago) and I thought his voice
was medium-large in size. It carries well because of the ring he has
through the passaggio. But I think his voice is less a Heldentenor than a
tenore di forza (or jugendlicher Heldentenor); it doesn't have the weight
to really cut through the full orchestra in lower-lying passages. Only
time will tell if he can withstand singing 300-400 performances of
Tristan as Melchior did. By the way, some friends here told me they heard
Melchior at an impromptu sing at an outdoor barbecue here (Jackson Hole)
in the mid-50s. Apparently his voice carried in the open air well enough
that the songs could be clearly heard more than a mile away, music and
words.

Jeffrey Joel

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