As mentioned in my
review of his recital at the Library of Congress last December,
Thomas Hampson is partnering with the
Library of Congress in a project called
Song of America. Through materials and recordings on the World Wide Web and a
tour of performances across the United States (starting on November 12 -- this Saturday -- in Overland Park, Kansas), Hampson hopes to bring the largely forgotten
legacy of American art song back to his fellow citizens. We would love to hear about these concerts from any of our readers who may attend them, out there in the hinterland.
At the risk of sounding overly positive, I think Thomas Hampson is a wonderful singer and a fine actor, which is a rare enough combination.
ReplyDelete[No hyperbole, mind you, I didn't say he's the best on the planet, just saying he's *one of* the best.]
Hampson is well worth hearing and seeing in a live performance.
I'll go out on a limb and say that Thomas Hampson is one of the finest, most versatile, American singers or singing-actors before us on this planet -- whether he is reviving the (very) romantic American song repertoire under funding of the Elinor Remick Warren Society; or singing (on stilts!) the title role in the world premiere (which I attended in Vienna in 2003) of Frederich Cerha's new pan-chromatic opera
ReplyDelete"The Giant from the Stoney Field".
Boy, is this huge talent underemployed by the American operatic field in new American works!! No wonder he lives largely in Vienna!
(Jens, Charles, and Harry -- and Andrea too --will remember Cerha as the man who secretly completed, for Universal Editions (Wien), the third act of Alban Berg's Lulu, so that the complete edition could be premiered, under Boulez, in 1978 or 1979).
Andrea, I will assume that you've listened to some of the beautiful and lush neo-romantic choral works by Elinor Remick Warren.
(Any comments yet from the hinterlands?)
I have to agree with both positive assessments. Garth, he sang Remick Warren at that recital last December (see link in the post), but I don't know if you attended that or not. I will be searching for reviews in the hometown newspapers when he starts to give these recitals. Who knows how it will be received!
ReplyDeleteI dare not "gush" anymore, Garth! Anonymous is lurking out there ...
ReplyDelete