The Loudmouth
Tenor Ben Heppner on his plan to defeat the Toronto curse
The Met. Royal Opera House. Covent Garden. Carnegie Hall. After 30 years in the business, Ben Heppner is still the tenor at the top of everyone’s wish list, still the go-to guy when you need a voice that can fill the planet’s biggest opera houses, without amplification, for five hours straight. And Torontonians will get to revel in it when Heppner heads home to help the COC—and newly ensconced music director Johannes Debus—celebrate 60 years with a special solo concert. Nov. 7.
You’ve twice had to cancel performances here when your voice failed mid-recital. Given your imminent COC gig, how are you coping with the Toronto curse?
Thanks for bringing that up. Things are going well, and I don’t worry about what’s happening in six months. But there will be word mistakes, for sure. Guaranteed. There always are.
With close to 50 performances scheduled for the year, you’re away from home a lot. When you’re in Toronto, how do you kick back?
With my family, visiting friends, reconnecting. I love motorcycling—I own a Honda VTX 1300—though my doctor recommends another kind of two-wheeler, so I’m also cycling.
Like many opera singers, you’ve struggled with your weight.
Yes. I’m not as heavy as I used to be, but not as light as I used to be, either.
What about jogging?
No, the Seismological Society forbids it. I might cause earthquakes.
What’s on your iPod?
Mostly jazz. My son recently gave me an amazing, mellow disc by the Tord Gustavsen Trio. Plus the stuff I’m learning—Götterdämmerung and Siegfried and The Queen of Spades.
Any other memorable onstage catastrophes?
World class. I was performing in Anna Bolena with Joan Sutherland in Detroit in June of 1984. It featured a horse, eight afghan hounds and a bunch of pageboys carrying goblets. The horse knocked over a tray, which set the dogs barking, which scared the living daylights out of the horse, who started to spin and then freaked out in that special horsey way. The audience couldn’t believe how lucky they were to have tickets to the performance in which the horse crapped all over the stage.
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