Heppner, Levine, Pape, Scotto and Voigt Win 2006 Opera News Awards

By Matthew Westphal
October 10, 2006

Wagnerian tenor Ben Heppner, longtime Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine, bass René Pape, retired soprano and currently active director Renata Scotto, and dramatic soprano Deborah Voigt have been named the recipients of the second annual Opera News Awards.

The 2006 honors will be presented at a gala reception and dinner in the ballroom of the Hotel Pierre in New York City on Sunday, January 28, 2007. There will be special spoken, sung and film tributes to the five honorees, all of whom will be present.

Launched in 2005, the Opera News Awards — the only awards in the United States given specifically for opera — are presented by the Metropolitan Opera Guild and Opera News magazine (published by the Guild) to recognize distinguished contributions to the art form.

The winners of the first Opera News Awards were mezzo-sopranos Susan Graham and Dolora Zajick, conductor James Conlon (currently music director of the Los Angeles Opera and previously chief conductor of the Opéra national de Paris), retired soprano Régine Crespin, and tenor/conductor/administrator/ operatic superman Plácido Domingo.