Ben Heppner Sings Wagner - Lohengrin selections

Ben Heppner (Artist), Sergei Leiferkus (Artist), Jan-Hendrik Rootering (Artist), Sharon Sweet (Artist), Eva Marton (Artist), Richard Wagner (Composer), Sir Colin Davis (Conductor), Bavarian Radio Orchestra (Orchestra), Bavarian Radio Chorus (Performer), Bavarian State Opera Chorus (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Bavarian Radio Chorus, Bavarian State Opera Chorus
• Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Orchestra
• Conductor: Sir Colin Davis
• Composer: Richard Wagner
• Audio CD (July 16, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003FXX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #287,009 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heppner's Lohengrin is outstanding!, August 15, 2000

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seamont (San Diego, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ben Heppner Sings Wagner - Lohengrin selections (Audio CD)

This is a wonderful CD that serves as both an introduction to Heppner's incredible Heldentenor voice and a nice excerpts disc of Lohengrin. Heppner is known the world over for his interpretation of Wagner and once you here his voice on this disc you'll know why. This is very accessible music for the non-Wagner fan as well and one that I love to listen to time and time again. Heppner's voice moves me like very few others! I can't wait for the next Heppner disc.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So this is how he used to sound...., November 29, 2010

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Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ben Heppner Sings Wagner - Lohengrin selections (Audio CD)

Ben Heppner delivers a splendid Lohengrin on this 1996 release of a 1994 recording with Sir Colin Davis and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra and Chorus: it is a reminder of what he used to be able to create in this role. The voice is pure and musical and beautiful to hear and his intonation is impeccable. The bits and pieces of the others in the cast (Sweet, Marton, Rootering, etc) don't offer enough for us to judge. But at the time of this recording Heppner was as fine a Lohengrin as was active on the stage.

Sadly his current state both vocally and physically don't come close. He is currently struggling his way through a mess of a production with the LA Opera (orchestra conducted by James Conlon and chorus are magnificent...) and one wonders just how much a crippling 'contemporary rethinking' of the mythical tale is responsible. But alas, now Heppner is massively overweight and his voice cracks and lurches for notes that are rarely on the mark. It is times such as this that we can be grateful for recordings that show what an artist was like in his prime. It provides some salve for current wounded eyes and ears. Grady Harp, November 10

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare Heldentenor triumphing in a lighter role, February 25, 2006

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Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ben Heppner Sings Wagner - Lohengrin selections (Audio CD)

Singers who aren't true Heldentenors can still successfully take on the role of Lohengrin, as witness Sandor Konya, Siegfried Jerusalem, Wofgang Windgassen, and Domingo. The last true Heldentenor to master the role was Lauritz Melchior in the 30s and 40s, yet here we have Ben Heppner outshining his illustrious predecessor. Heppner's voice is less stentoriann, more naturally beautiful, and much more lyrical than Melchior's; he is also a more careful musician.

This CD excerpts the best parts of the role, with a few other things, like the Act 1 Prelude, thrown in. The complete recording under Colin Davis from 1994 was sabotaged by the wobbly, unidiomatic Elsa of Sharon Sweet (it more or less ended her recording career), and the compilers have wisely omitted her as much as possible. Therefore we jump directly from the Prelude to Lohengrin's arrival on the swan boat, after which it's basically Heppner all the way. He isn't perfect--he lacks ardor in "In fernen Land," but the quibbles are minor given such a rapturous voice that's unique in opera today.