Heppner to miss opener
Ben Heppner will not be performing the title role in Peter Grimes when the Canadian Opera Company production opens on Saturday night at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Suffering from what is being called “vocal inflammation,” Heppner alerted the company to his condition earlier in the week after a visit to his doctor. The COC treated the situation proactively by arranging for award-winning American tenor Anthony Dean Griffey to be available to cover Heppner for Thursday night’s dress rehearsal and Saturday’s opening.
Griffey, a four-time Grammy Award winner, is no stranger to the role of Grimes, having played it at the Houston Grand Opera and Opera Australia in 2010, as well as at Glyndebourne, the Paris Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, where his 2008 performance was hailed as “a triumph” by the New York Times, who praised his “exemplary artistry and raw emotion” in this difficult role.
The COC hopes that the Torontobased, 57-year-old Heppner will be fully recovered in time to perform the role on Tuesday.