Ben Heppner

Read About This Recording

Ben Heppner is widely considered one of the leading tenors of our age, on par with the great Lauritz Melchior who reigned during the 1920-40s. But whereas Melchior's restricted himself primarily to Wagnerian roles, Heppner has proven quite able to handle Wagner's challenging roles, in addition to those found in Italian and French operas.

It is not just his versatility, however, that has earned him such critical praise from the music world, but the stunning lyrical quality of his sound. "Heppner's singing — like that of his compatriot Jon Vickers — is imbued with a stirring, poetic fervor," writes Roger Pines, a contributor to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera and the author of this recording's liner notes. And from the Canadian tenor's first note, you will understand exactly what he means.

This collection contains some of the most well-known and dramatic arias written for the tenor voice. Selections include those of Bizet's Carmen, Verdi's Aïda and Leoncavallo's La bohème, as well as a not-to-be-missed version of Puccini's Turandot.

If you are a fan of a tenor who has no trouble hitting the high Cs, you will not be disappointed.

—Jeffrey R. Nissim

Quotes

"Simply has no peers among heldentenors at the moment." —The New York Times

"Heppner's fresh, shining, youthful heldentenor, well trained and ample of breath supply, with never a trace of register break, is deployed with excellent musical taste." —Opera News

Contents

Leoncavallo: La bohème: Musetta! O gioia della mia dimora!... Testa adorata; Verdi: Luisa Miller: Oh! fede negar potessi… Quando le sere al placido; La forza del destino: La vita è inferno all'infelice… Oh, tu che in seno agl'angeli; Aïda: Se quel guerrier io fossi!... Celesta Aïda; Il trovatore: Ah sì, ben mio; Di quella pira; Puccini: Manon Lescaut: Donna non vidi mai simile a questa!; Turandot: Nessun dorma; La fanciulla del West: Ch'ella mi creda liero e lontano; Bizet: Carmen: La fleur que tu m'avais jetée; Meyerbeer: L'Africaine: Pays merveilleux… Ô Paradis; Massenet: Hérodiade: Ne pouvant réprimer… Adieu donc, vains objets; Le Cid: Ah! tout est bien fini… Ô souverain, ô juge, ô père; Giordano: Andrea Chénier: Come un bel dì di maggio; Colpito qui m'avete ov'io geloso… Un dì all'azzurro spazio.

Ben Heppner, Tenor; Jürgen Musser, Clarinet; The Chorus of the Bavarian Radio; Munich Radio Orchestra; Roberto Abbado, Conductor.