TORONTO — Celebrated Canadian opera singer Ben Heppner has announced his retirement.
In a statement, Heppner says he wants to enter a new era in his life.
The 58-year-old added that he would continue as the host of CBC-Radio’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and Backstage with Ben Heppner.
The B.C.-born Heppner first rose to prominence when he won the CBC Talent Festival in 1979.
The renowned tenor went on to perform at Covent Garden, Bavarian State Opera, Paris Opera, San Francisco Opera and Vienna State Opera.
Some of his most challenging roles have been performed at the Metropolitan Opera, where he’s performed the title roles in Dieter Dorn’s Tristan und Isolde and Robert Wilson’s Lohengrin, while also portraying Florestan in Fidelio, Ghermann in The Queen of Spades and Aeneas in Les Troyens.
Heppner won three Grammy Awards and a trio of Juno Awards.
He has been named a Companion of the Order of Canada and performed at the closing ceremonies of two separate Olympic Games, in 2006 and 2010.
“After much consideration, I’ve decided the time has come for a new era in my life,” Heppner said in a statement. “I’m setting aside my career as an opera and concert singer.
Heppner recently cancelled a scheduled May 23 concert at the Royal Theatre.
The concert was planned as part of the Royal McPherson Centennial Festival.
The Toronto-based singer had also previously cancelled his March 21 concert at Sidney’s Mary Winspear Centre, along with several other Western Canada tour dates, due to illness.
When Heppner became ill in the middle of performing Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius with the Vancouver Symphony in 2007, Victoria’s Peter Butterfield left his seat from the audience to fill in, even though he hadn’t sung the part in 20 years. Although Heppner never performed in a Pacific Opera Victoria production, artistic director Timothy Vernon said he and Heppner still laugh about the time he almost did.
Before his career began its great ascent, Heppner was in Victoria with the the Guelph Spring Festival, which was touring The Lighthouse by Peter Maxwell Davies in the mid-1980s.
Heppner asked to sing for POV, Vernon said.
“In the course of the audition, I said, ‘Ben, I think you’d do well to look at German repertoire,’ ” Vernon said.
Vernon was beginning preparations for POV’s 1989 production of The Flying Dutchman and signed Heppner for a role.
In the two years between the contract signing and the approach of the production, Vernon said he didn’t pay very close attention to what Heppner was up to and was ignorant of his rapid success.
“One morning, he said, ‘I’m calling about the Flying Dutchman,” Vernon said. “ ‘I said, Ben, please don’t back away from this, I really think it’s right for you.’”
Vernon asked if Heppner had a better offer. Heppner said, “I guess you could call it better.”
It was his 1990 La Scala debut as Walter von Stolzig in Der Meistersinger. Although the performance dates didn’t conflict, it was going to be a busy year of preparations.
Heppner would never join the POV stage, but he would support the company at subsequent gala and fundraising events.
“Of course he became the greatest heldentenor,” Vernon said.
“Ben’s voice is very particular, because he could ride the big waves of the Wagner orchestra, but it was never strident, it was always beautiful. That made it very special.”
Heppner’s last performance in the greater Victoria area was in May 2013 at the Mary Winspear Centre, accompanied by pianist John Hess.
