My Secret Heart / Ben Heppner

$11.99
Label
Sony Masterworks
Release Date
November 9, 1999
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      GIANNINI CHARLES NOVELLO VA
    • PERFORMER
      Ben Heppner
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      November 09, 1999
    • UPC
      090266350827
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      09026635082
    • LABEL
      Sony Masterworks
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Classical Vocals
    Works ⌄

    1. Let All My Life Be Music (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Charles Gilbert Spross

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    2. Sing to My Heart a Song (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Vittorio Giannini

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    3. Let My Song Fill Your Heart (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Ernest Charles

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    4. Perchance to Dream: Love is my reason (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Ivor Novello

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    5. King's Rhapsody: Someday My Heart Will Awake (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Ivor Novello

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    6. Bitter Sweet: I'll See You Again (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Noël Coward

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    7. Perchance to Dream: We'll Gather Lilacs (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Ivor Novello

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    8. Bird Songs at Eventide (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Eric Coates

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    9. Homing (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Teresa Del Riego

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    10. I Love Life (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Mana-Zucca Cassel

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    11. The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Ernest Seitz

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    12. Roses of Picardy (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Haydn Wood

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    13. I'll Be Seeing You (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Sammy Fain

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    14. The Student Prince, Act I: Serenade (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Sigmund Romberg

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    15. The Vagabond King: Love Me Tonight (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Rudolf Friml

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    16. The Toast of New Orleans: Be My Love (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Nicholas Brodszky

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    17. The Desert Song: The Desert Song (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Sigmund Romberg

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick

    18. Conversation Piece: I'll Follow My Secret Heart (arr. J. Tunick for voice and orchestra)

      Composer: Noël Coward

      Ensemble: London Philharmonic Orchestra

      Performer: Ben Heppner

      Conductor: Jonathan Tunick


If Wagner's Tristan had lived in the 1940s instead of Medieval times, perhaps he would have crooned Ivor Novello's "Love is my reason for living" or serenaded his Isolde with Rudolf Friml's "Love me tonight." If these popular songs don't aspire to the transcendent rapture of Wagnerian opera, they do share a sense of absorption in sheer passion. Perhaps sensing this, Ben Heppner, acclaimed as the finest Wagnerian tenor of his generation, offers here a selection of the sentimental and nostalgic love songs sung on radio, stage and screen by earlier "crossover" stars such as Mario Lanza and Nelson Eddy.
Heppner, who sings even a demanding role such as Tristan emphasizing lyrical warmth, brings an appealingly direct quality to these songs, varying from the emphatic to the intimate in approach. If he misses the fun in some of the music (although he finds it in Mana-Zucca's swaggering "I love life") there is no doubting his affection for it, and the orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick are romantically enveloping without being schmaltzy. Familiar tunes like "I'll be seeing you" and Lanza's theme song "Be my love" are supplemented by appealing obscurities by Noel Coward and Eric Coates, among others, and Heppner's operatically supported high notes ring out in stirring celebration of these charming songs.
REVIEWS:
Opera News (2/2000) - "...Heppner's heroic good cheer and ebullient singing give a gilded edge to this album of old-fashioned favorites... reveling in their deep-purple lyrics and gloriously sentimental melodies ...he sounds as if he's having a wonderful time..."