<<  -- 7 --  Tess Crebbin and Sissy von Kotzebue    BEN HEPPNER

MV: What is very nice about Tosti is the bel canto aspect, isn't it?

BH: Even though it is the kind of song that was made for the salon. People sometimes say: 'Tosti in a serious programme!' but I don't agree and I always try to include it as something that I know the audience will relate to.

MV: At your Munich recital, people were waiting for Tosti ...

BH: Ben does battle with the high notes, that's what they were waiting for ...

MV: What do Tosti's songs mean to you?

BH: I love them because those songs are very accessible. Someone can hear them and even if they don't know the language they embrace the style. It is very easy and direct. And it was also written for a well-trained voice. Tosti was said by Verdi to be one of the two best voice teachers in the world at that time, so it's not a bad prerequisite for writing songs. His music reflects that kind of vocalism, really well formed singing.

MV: What is the story behind your love for Tosti?

BH: I think every tenor will eventually find Tosti. My first experience was a rather unique one because my fiancée at the time, who is now my wife, had a piano teacher who was forced to retire from the university. She was going to give a farewell concert but she no longer played solo. So she did a couple duets and trios and as a final number she wanted me to sing Tosti's Good-bye. She accompanied me. It was famous to her but I had never heard of it. There was a feather boa around her neck as she played and I sang 'good-bye, good-bye forever' and it was a wonderful evening. So that was my first experience. I didn't think too much more of it because, in all honesty, Good-bye is not my favorite song. And then you start to encounter other pieces, like L'alba separa and that's an entirely different story. So then I started doing Tosti songs as some encores and when the possibility came up to do the CD, I jumped at it. On the CD, I wanted to include a good selection of his works, in various languages.

MV: How did it feel to record Tosti as opposed to the more heavy stuff?

BH: I didn't grow up to be an opera singer. Everyone thinks you have to learn how to sing popular but I had to learn how to sing opera because I sang popular. I sang opera when I sang in church. I sang gospel music and all kinds of things. Opera is a learned thing to me. So I just love to sing, I am not just about one style of music.

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