(Toronto, Ontario) It’s sad to see great singers struggle with vocal problems. But even more so to hear them.
Such was the case with Canadian tenor Ben Heppner in recital with collaborative pianist John Hess at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts earlier this afternoon.
Heppner was originally scheduled to sing at the Canadian Opera Company’s sixtieth anniversary concert last November, but withdrew due to illness. That concert went ahead with Russell Braun, Ramón Vargas, and John Tomlinson accompanied by the COC Orchestra under Johannes Debus. Heppner didn’t want to disappoint anyone, and so re-scheduled his appearance to September 11, though to piano rather than orchestral accompaniment.
However, disappointment was the word for this afternoon. The first clue that all was not well was the small microphone on a stand placed at the lip of the stage.
Heppner opened with Edvard Grieg's Six Songs op. 48. The first four songs sounded as though Heppner wasn't quite warmed up, but he hit his stride in Zur Rosenzeit, and finally, Ein Traum.
Heppner and Hess followed up with a set of seven songs in Swedish by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. By far the finest performed of these was Till Kvällen op. 17 no. 6. Here, we heard vintage Heppner reveling in this effervescent piece, his beautiful bell-like tones projecting clearly through the hall.
But there was trouble lurking in the other pieces. He almost cracked the top note in Soluppgång op. 37 no. 3, and had minor difficulty tuning its final note.
After intermission, an upbeat Heppner strode on stage, bantered about some tennis match or other, then commented on his struggles to memorize Russian before excusing himself for using music in a set of six songs by Tchaikovsky.
"It's my Soviet block," deadpanned Heppner to some laughs from the capacity audience.
Yet that mirth couldn't hide the fact that Heppner's Russian sounded anything but that. Throughout the set, he had to frequently glance down at his music on a stand in front of him. Consequently, not only did his presentation suffer, but so too did his feel for the music and the text.
And then there were those pesky high notes. Some were handled well, many weren't including one that was rather forced.
Ditto for Massenet's O souverain, ô juge, ô père, and Wagner's Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond where there was a wobble on "vereint."
Things went completely downhill for Heppner in Tosti's L'alba separa. He ought to have called it a day after the Wagner (if not sooner), but nonetheless soldiered on. At song's end, Heppner shook Hess's hand, and the two walked off stage. They re-appeared for a very brief curtain call, though everyone knew there'd be no encore.
Heppner has starred on opera stages the world over for years now, but sadly has never sung professionally in a COC production. If this afternoon's performance is any indication, that more than likely won't happen any time soon.
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