Notes and Editorial Reviews
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,
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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..." Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Let All My Life Be Music by Charles Gilbert Spross
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: USA
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 2 Minutes 27 Secs.
Language: English
2.
Sing to my heart a song by Vittorio Giannini
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: by 1944; USA
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 1 Minutes 13 Secs.
Language: English
3.
Homing by Teresa del Riego
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: USA
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 2 Minutes 17 Secs.
Language: English
4.
Roses of Picardy by Haydn Wood
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1916; England
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 3 Minutes 44 Secs.
Language: English
5.
I'll Be Seeing You by Sammy Fain
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1938; USA
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 2 Minutes 52 Secs.
Language: English
6.
Let My Song Fill Your Heart by Charles,
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: USA
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 2 Minutes 34 Secs.
Language: English
7.
Perchance to Dream: Love is my reason by Ivor Novello
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1945; England
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 2 Minutes 45 Secs.
Language: English
8.
King's Rhapsody: Someday my heart will awake by Ivor Novello
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; England
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 3 Minutes 5 Secs.
Language: English
9.
Bitter Sweet: I'll See You Again by Noel Coward
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1929; England
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 3 Minutes 55 Secs.
Language: English
10.
Perchance to Dream: We'll gather lilacs by Ivor Novello
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1945; England
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 4 Minutes 56 Secs.
Language: English
11.
Bird Songs at Eventide by Eric Coates
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1926; England
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 2 Minutes 46 Secs.
Language: English
12.
I Love Life by Ki-Lu Mana-Zucca
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1923; USA
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 1 Minutes 35 Secs.
Language: English
13.
The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise by Setz,
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: USA
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 3 Minutes 34 Secs.
Language: English
14.
Student Prince: Serenade by Sigmund Romberg
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 3 Minutes 10 Secs.
Language: English
15.
The Vagabond King: Love me tonight by Rudolf Friml
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1925; USA
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 2 Minutes 37 Secs.
Language: English
16.
The Toast of New Orleans: Be My Love by Nicholas Brodszky
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 3 Minutes 1 Secs.
Language: English
17.
The Desert Song: Desert Song by Sigmund Romberg
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1926; USA
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 3 Minutes 55 Secs.
Language: English
18.
Conversation Piece: I'll Follow My Secret Heart by Noel Coward
Performer:
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Jonathan Tunick
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1934; England
Date of Recording: 07/1999
Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London, England
Length: 2 Minutes 40 Secs.
Language: English
Sound Samples
Let My Song Fill Your Heart: Viennese Waltz
Love Is My Reason For Living
Some Day My Heart Will Awake
The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise
I'll Follow My Secret Heart
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