Customer Reviews

Ben Heppner - German Romantic Opera

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a magnificent album: Ben Heppner could easily be called the finest Wagnerian heldentenor singing today. I was fortunate enough to hear him in the title role of Wagner's "Lohengrin" at the Metropolitan Opera House a few seasons ago in a startling production by Robert Wilson. Heppner's voice is strong and clear and beautifully produced. And even when he is singing with that mighty, huge Met orchestra, he never loses the sweetness in his voice which is one of its most precious qualities. This year he took on the role of 'Florestan' in Beethoven's "Fidelio" in New York and that character's major aria is gorgeously done on this album. Besides the six Wagner excerpts, my personal favorite is from Korngold's "Die Tote Stadt." Highly Recommended for anyone who loves Wagner or for anyone who has no real exposure to him and would like to begin with a beautiful album.

RCA made two hits when they signed up two great singers early in their careers--Thomas Quasthoff and Ben Heppner. In both cases the voice sounded great but the interpretations had yet to reach their full depth and feeling. This CD of German opera excerpts, with its large chunk of Wanger, presages the enormous career Heppner would have as the world's leading Heldentenor. The voice is young and fresh--listen to the ravishing legato in the big aria from Die Tote Stadt--but there's a lot of growth to come. The readings tend to be rather literal and stiff, as does the conducting. Fans will love everything here anyway, and so do I, with reservations.

Although I am not a big fan of recordings of this kind, preferring instead either complete scenes or Acts instead of selected arias, it would be hard to seriously fault this record. Heppner's pitch control is excellent and he reallys sings instead of resorting to declamation (once referred to as the Bayreuth Bark). The orchestral playing and conducting is successful too, as is the sound engineering. All the items on this release are interesting, but I wonder why the Preislied from Meistersinger was excluded, which may well be his signature aria. It is a generous program and the notes are well written. Recommended.

So much about this recital is wonderful that it might seem a little churlish to cavil at anything, especially in a world so short of voices of this calibre and repertoire, but I find myself in two minds listening to it. The sound quality of this disc is a bit recessed and lacking in bite, so at first I attributed the lack of immediacy in these arias to the engineering and turned it up in quiet bits, only to have to reduce volume again when Heppner got going, but there is a kind of placidity to his singing of these arias which makes it difficult to respond to the drama of their context. It is almost as if he finds it too easy; comparison between the earliest recorded (1995) aria here, from "Fidelio", and Jon Vicker's famous version for Klemperer makes the point: Vickers makes the music sound difficult (which it is); the tessitura is very high and there is a dangerous edge to his voice and a strain almost wholly absent from Heppner's account. Vickers occasionally cracks a little and is the limit of his vocal resources, and he invests the words with so much more tension than Heppner; you really feel as though this is a man on the edge, close to madness in his isolation and terror. Similarly, with a far less glamorous voice, a singer like Windgassen makes us feel the terror of his disovery that the sleeping warrior is a beautiful woman. The Santa Fe listener in his review suggests that this (mostly) 1998 recital points forward to a greater expressiveness yet to develop in Heppner's voice; I am not sure that this breakthrough has actually occurred as today I still find his singing to be superbly vocalised and a little bland in expression -and he has unfortunately developed a greater propensity to crack, without deepening his interpretations. I am still very grateful for this glorious voice, but I do not find in it everything I had hoped for, especially in Wagner, which represents the summit of a singer's art. We are lucky to have Heppner but there have been greater heroic tenors.

Before Heppner came around I had little interest in German music, other than Beethoven, and Mozart. His interpretation of these arias, as well as his disc of Strauss arias converted me. He never barks this music, but sings with artistry, and technical mastery. He infuses this music with the technique of an italian singer, and gives this music the beauty it deserves. After listening to Heppner sing these operas, I did more exploring, and found that there were other singers, who sang German opera beautiful as well. Thanks to Heppner and his beautiful singing, apparent on this disc, I have been opened to this music.

I have to agree with the Amazon.com review. This man is amazing. He was recently listed by the Associated Press as one of the most important opera singers of the 90's, and it is easy to see why when listening to this CD as well as his others.

I first discovered this wonderful voice in 1994 when I heard his "Nessun Dorma" on a compilation CD. I was immediately taken by his voice, and artistry. I searched everywhere to find more recordings with him and quickly bought his recording of Turandot (still available), and his recording of Oberon (Which is currently out of stock).

His voice is simply one of the best of the century, and I am sure he will be forever remembered.

I had the pleasure of hearing his first Tristan und Isolde in Seattle, and I was thrilled to see a piece from that opera included on this disc. This man just keeps getting better, as I understand that his Metropolitan performance with Jane Eaglen (another most important opera singers of the 90's per Associated Press) was an even bigger success.

This disc represents some of his best singing, as mentioned by the reviewer. All the arias and scenes are beautifully sung. You simply must have this CD if you are a lover of great singing.

His other solo discs include: "Great Tenor Arias", "Heppner sings Strauss", and "Meditation"!

This is a nice long program with many opportunities for Heppner to be heard in the best possible light. But please; nothing against big Ben, but those who would have you believe that he is a great heldentenor are mistaken on two counts. A: he's not a heldentenor. And B: he's not a great anything. He's the best of the current voices in this repertoire but calling him great just diminishes the true greatness in the history of opera singing.
When Melchior retired, Suthaus and Windgassen suffered in comparison to the great Dane. Their recordings now stand on their own merits. Jon Vickers was followed by Kollo,Jerusalem, Hofman, Goldberg, and Lakes. These fine tenors were found wanting due to the huge shadow cast by the great Vickers. With true greatness so long gone, Heppner came along at just the right time when standards and expectations would not be nearly so high.
Wagnerian tenors succeed through endurance, power or beauty of tone. Heppner has a few ringing high notes but beauty of tone is rarely heard. And his Tristan performances don't speak well for his vocal stamina.
Among recent recordings in this repertoire, Kollo, Jerusalem and Lakes offer far more beautiful singing. And Goldberg and Hofman offer ringing high notes as well as tonal beauty. Don't be sold by record company promoters or music directors who realize that he's simply the best of the current lot. Heppner isn't the heldentenor of our times, he's just the handy tenor of our times.