11 Nov 2005

A Sure Thing, Though Not On the High B

http://www.nysun.com/article/22876

heppner_small.jpg[Photo: Marty Umans]
BY JAY NORDLINGER [NY Sun, 11 November 2005]

It was a blockbuster concert, a box-office sure thing: the soprano Deborah Voigt and the tenor Ben Heppner, singing arias and duets. What arias and duets? German ones, of course, for Miss Voigt and Mr. Heppner are two of the most celebrated "German" singers - Wagner singers, more specifically - in the world. (She is an American, he a Canadian.) The concert took place on Wednesday night at Avery Fisher Hall, and the singers' backup band was the Orchestra of St. Luke's, conducted by Asher Fisch, an Israeli who is particularly known for opera.