 
"My Secret Heart"
Ben Heppner
With his 1999 Met triumph as
Tristan--the most taxing of all Wagner's tenor roles--Canadian
singer Ben Heppner has fully earned his heralded position as
the great new Heldentenor of our time. His Lohengrin is a signature
role, while his album German Romantic Opera has been nominated
for a Grammy. Yet Heppner also commands tremendous versatility--and
of a much more engaging character than that of the typical crossover
effort--using his powerful, bronze-tinged tenor to tender and
charming effect in My Secret Heart. Many of these are almost
forgotten gems--emblems of a vanished era--but once had wide
cultural currency: the World War II hit "We'll Gather Lilacs,"
the radio show Family Hour's theme tune "Let My Song Fill
Your Heart," Ben Heppner, with his sturdy beauty of tone
and sweet, natural-sounding vibrato, breathes new life into this
genre.He handles the idiom's unabashed schmaltz with charm and
brings a lilting urbanity to two Noël Coward tunes, with
especially bittersweet refinement in "I'll Follow My Secret
Heart." --Thomas May |
