ON THE BEAT.(Ben Heppner signs recording contract; article including Metropopolitan Opera Guild's Luncheon)(Brief Article)

Heppner signs recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon; MOG Annual Membership Luncheon gathers Verdi greats

Recently, BEN HEPPNER signed a new, exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. One of the hottest items should be out this summer: a complete recording of Ariadne auf Naxos, with the dream-team cast: DEBORAH VOIGT, NATALIE DESSAY and ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER. Heppner's long-term RCA contract expired some time age and was not renewed." We did some quite good work," he says, without apparent regret, "but I felt that the promotional side of things had not worked as it might. I was looking for a new home to do that. And I suppose in a way, the switch of sort of subjugating the classical RCA Red Seal label under the pop label was a sign. Fortunately, DG was interested."

What company wouldn't be? Heppner is the heldentenor in the world who can sing Tristan, FIorestan and Walther the way people want to hear them sung. Miraculously, he doesn't seem to be buckling under the pressure. Currently, he is spending the summer gearing up for his first Verdi Otello, which he performs in concert in Munich under JAMES LEVlNE's direction before taking it to the stage of the Lyric Opera of Chicago for a run that commences September 22.

So far, Heppner counts Tristan as the role that takes the most out of him, "not just from the point of view of the voice. It's also because there's a psychological mountain you have to climb every time the downbeat starts. It's a long trek to the end of the opera, and I get worn out emotionally. I did a lot of them last year, and I'm very glad that I've planned a year without any Tristans during this current season." In a couple of seasons, he will bring his Enee in Les Troyens to the Met. He sang the Berlioz last December with Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra (recorded live) and claims it's not the size of the role but the variety that's taxing: "The entrance is as if he were a spinto, and there's another part that's baritonal, then you have to find this very fine French leggiero sound, and then you have to sing the big final aria with chorus as if you were born to the big dramatic roles."

What about Tannhauser? "Lovely chap," laughs Heppner. "And only for grown-ups. But I guess ...