2 Canadians in the Met's new staging of the Ring
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 9, 2007 | 3:27 PM ET
CBC Arts
The Metropolitan Opera Company in New York has enlisted the talents of two Canadians for their new production of Wagner's four-opera Ring cycle.
Actor, writer and director Robert Lepage, a native of Quebec, will direct the elaborate production, which is to be staged in the 2010-2011 season.
Canadian tenor Ben Heppner, shown with Deborah Voigt in November, will tackle the role of Siegfried in Wagner's Ring cycle for the Metropolitan Opera Company.
(Julie Jacobson/Associated Press)
Canadian tenor Ben Heppner has agreed to tackle the vocally demanding role of Siegfried.
Lepage, a multi-discipline artist, is best-known for such pioneering theatrical contributions as his fantastic staging of Cirque du Soleil's KÀ.
Lepage last appeared as an actor in Catherine Martin's film Dans les villes, which was screened at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.
Lepage made his directorial debut in the opera world with the Canadian Opera Company's double bill of Bela Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle and Arnold Schoenberg's Erwartung in 1993.
In 2006, Heppner joined the German-based orchestra Dresden Staatskapelle to record the arias of Siegfried and Siegmund from the Ring cycle.
The tenor’s first stage portrayal of Siegfried will take place in June 2008 at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Born in Dawson Creek, B.C., Heppner first gained national attention in 1979, when he won a CBC talent competition. He has since developed into one of world's most renowned tenors.
Both artists are recipients of the Order of Canada.
The Met will present its current Otto Schenk incarnation of the Ring a final time in its 2008-2009 season before it is formally retired.
