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Ben Heppner: Answer to Who Am I? challenge

"Who am I?" is a new challenge for the astute readers of CBC Music. Earlier this week we asked you to guess the identity of a mystery personality based on an audio sample and a handful of clues. As many of you correctly guessed, the mystery personality was, of course, Canadian opera star Ben Heppner. Now, as promised, here is a bit of context to the clues we provided.


My voice type is heroic.

Heppner is a dramatic tenor, which means he is able to produce a very full-bodied and powerful sound through the complete tenor vocal range. The Heldentenor voice type is slightly darker, with qualities approaching that of a baritone. Many of the roles Heppner specializes in, including Lohengrin and Tristan, are of the Heldentenor type, which translates from the German as “heroic tenor.”

I stood in for an ailing Pavarotti at the Met in 1991.

Heppner had been scheduled to make his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1992, but he answered a call to step in for an indisposed Luciano Pavarotti to sing Idomeneo in December 1991.

My popularity crashed the phone lines at the Seattle Opera box office.

Heppner’s much anticipated 1998 debut in the role of Tristan, with English soprano Jane Eaglen as Isolde, was such a popular event that the flood of calls to the box office crashed the otherwise robust infrastructure of the Seattle Opera ticketing office. The New York Times reviewer Anthony Tommasini wrote that Heppner’s performance in Seattle signaled that  “a real Tristan has arrived.”

I once sang karaoke in Hawaii.

As improbable as this might sound, one of the greatest operatic voices of our times has been put into the service of the ultimate leveler of musical playing fields: karaoke. Heppner confirmed by email to CBC Music that he was indeed coaxed by friends into grabbing the microphone and following the bouncing video ball at one of Hawaii’s finer karaoke establishments. Heppner writes, “Yes, in fact that did happen. They thought it would be 'funny' if I would sing in the karaoke bar. I pointed out that it would be funnier if they sang – particularly since I had bronchitis! However, I did sing 'Danny Boy' or something.”

My name is on a street in my hometown.

Heppner’s hometown of Dawson Creek in northern British Columbia honoured the opera star with his own street. Running behind the fire hall, just one block from Alaska Avenue, is Ben Heppner Way.

What are your thoughts on the dazzling voice and remarkable career of Ben Heppner? Let us know in the comments section.

Related:

Ben Heppner's Captain Ahab in Calgary Opera's Moby Dick

Montreal International Musical Competition on CBC Music

Puccini's Tosca from the COC


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