TORONTO - Canadian tenor Ben Heppner hopes to make up for missing the Canadian Opera Company's diamond anniversary by giving opera fans a golden opportunity.

The COC announced Thursday that Heppner has agreed to perform a free solo recital at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Anyone with tickets to this Saturday's anniversary show will be allowed to attend.

The COC says the date of Heppner's recital will be announced soon.

Heppner withdrew from the COC's anniversary concert with a viral infection, which he said he caught while singing in in London.

The anniversary show will go ahead as planned this weekend with performances by Ramon Vargas, John Treleaven, and Canadian Russell Braun.