Strong start, stronger finish

Science tells us that energy is diminishing in the universe. That’s called the second law of thermodynamics. But it doesn’t apply to tenor Ben Heppner.

At his recital Sunday afternoon at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Heppner started strong and got stronger. His voice grew bigger, brighter and more thrilling the more he sang. It was an extraordinary experience. Whatever vocal trouble Heppner landed in a few years ago -- and it was real and severe, taking him out of the limelight for a while -- he’s vanquished it. Rarely, if ever, has Segerstrom Hall reverberated with such heroic tones.

Heppner built his recital cannily. He started with a set of clever folk-song arrangements by Benjamin Britten, moved through a group of emotionally deeper Sibelius songs and then, after intermission, traversed ardent selections by Tchaikovsky to close with a set of open-throated, ringing ones by Tosti.

With Britten, he had already begun to exploit the acting and text-interpreting talents that only increased during the course of the recital, culminating in a wondrously engaged performance of the Prize Song from Wagner’s “The Mastersingers,” the second of three encores. (The others were “Amor ti vieta” from Giordano’s “Fedora” and Lehar’s “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz.”)

Other highlights, among so many, included his passionate singing of Sibelius’ “Svarta rosor” (Black Roses) and Tchaikovsky’s “Otchevo?” (Why?).

Only those with perfect pitch knew for sure if there was only one high C in the program, at the end of Tosti’s “L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra” (The dawn separates shadow from light), but there were plenty of Bs and B-flats, and they were big as a house.

During the long, symphonic piano postlude of Tchaikovsky’s “Den’ li tsarit” (Whether Day Dawns), Hepper turned aside in deference to his accompanist, Craig Rutenberg. It was a generous and necessary act because Rutenberg proved an ideal partner throughout the recital. Whatever he played was interesting in itself but always sensitively reflective of Heppner’s singing.

Heppner was no standoffish performer. Before the Tosti songs, he started talking to the audience. He spoofed the Performing Arts Center program cover, which left off a photo of him but juxtaposed his name with a photo of Dame Edna (appearing there Thursday through Sunday). He asked who had won a Duke basketball game he had to miss that afternoon. His face fell when someone said Duke had lost. He told a few jokes about soprano Nellie Melba.

And he sang gorgeously. Clearly, onstage is where he belongs.