Thomas Hampson continues NY Philharmonic residency
The eminent American baritone Thomas Hampson continues his year-long appointment as the first Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence of the New York Philharmonic with a program featuring John Adams’s The Wound-Dresser, which Hampson will perform both in New York (Jan 14-16) and on tour with Alan Gilbert on the conductor’s first European tour with the Philharmonic (Jan 21 – Feb 4). While in New York, Hampson will also give the annual Erich Leinsdorf Lecture on January 11 at the Walter Reade Theater; in this talk, entitled “Listening to Thought: Awakening of the American Voice”, Hampson will address the impact of poet Walt Whitman on American song, with particular reference to Adams’s setting of Whitman’s The Wound-Dresser, and the emergence of American identity. On January 15, Hampson will be featured in discussion with WQXR’s 105.9 FM’s Jeff Spurgeon as part of the New York Philharmonic’s “Offstage at Barnes & Noble” (66th Street and Broadway); this free event features a short performance and CD signing.
Hampson comments on the significance of performing Adams’s powerfully evocative work, which was written in 1989 and is a setting of Whitman’s 1865 poem about his experience as a nurse during the American Civil War:
“I think whenever you take serious American repertoire to Europe you’re making a statement that needs to be made. We have a much varied and interesting depth of repertoire and thought in America that very often isn’t appreciated. Certainly all of our arts and letters here in America are dominated by people’s immediate perceptions of geopolitics. It’s an important message to communicate – that we have a deep-thinking, profound relationship with questions of war and suffering and life and love like any other country.
“John Adams’s piece has become an icon of American literature in a short amount of time. It is the best of what Walt Whitman writes. It’s about compassion. It’s not an anti-war statement. It is a kind of reflection of human need and human misery and aggression, met with living compassion that any political party in any country needs to embrace. I’m very, very proud to be with the New York Philharmonic in taking that to Europe.”
The baritone is the New York Philharmonic’s first Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, and throughout the season – the first with Gilbert as the orchestra’s new Music Director – Hampson is taking part in a variety of activities (16 events in all) that showcase his wide-ranging talents as performer, music enthusiast, and scholar. On New Year’s Eve, he sang a program of Copland songs and selections from Broadway musicals in a concert that was televised nationally on Public Television. In November, he was a soloist with the orchestra in Zemlinsky’s opulent Lyric Symphony, and presented the first of the three lectures he is giving this season.
In the spring, Hampson will sing a recital in Alice Tully Hall, co-presented by the orchestra and Lincoln Center’s “Art of the Song” series (April 11), and will join members of the orchestra in the inaugural season of its “CONTACT!” new music series (April 16 & 17), performing a new work especially written for him by Matthias Pintscher.
The singer was recently named the orchestra’s Leonard Bernstein Scholar. His third and final lecture of the season, “Listening to Thought: A Guide to German Romanticism”, will take place on April 5 at Lincoln Center’s Kaplan Penthouse and will explore the iconography, metaphor, and imagery of this epochal period for European art song.
Hampson’s April concerts coincide with his return to New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where he will reprise the role of Germont in the company’s production of Verdi’s La traviata (March 29 – April 24).
Details of Hampson’s engagements appear below, and further information may be found at his web site, www.thomashampson.com.
Thomas Hampson: winter, spring, and summer 2010 engagements
(New York Philharmonic Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence events are shown in bold)
Jan 11
New York, NY
Walter Reade Theater
“Listening to Thought: Awakening of the American Voice”
Annual Erich Leinsdorf Lecture
New York Philharmonic
Jan 14-16
New York, NY
New York Philharmonic / Alan Gilbert
John Adams: The Wound-Dresser
Jan 15
New York, NY
Barnes and Noble – 66th Street and Broadway
New York Philharmonic “Offstage at Barnes and Noble”, hosted by Jeff Spurgeon
Jan 21 – Feb 4
“EUROPE / WINTER 2010” tour with New York Philharmonic
Jan 21: Palau de la Música (Barcelona, Spain)
Haydn: Symphony No. 49 (“La passione”); John Adams: The Wound-Dresser; Schubert: Symphony in B minor (“Unfinished”); Berg: Three Orchestral Pieces
Jan 24: Auditorio Nacional de Música (Madrid, Spain)
Haydn: Symphony No. 49 (“La passione”); John Adams: The Wound-Dresser; Schubert: Symphony in B minor (“Unfinished”); Berg: Three Orchestral Pieces
Jan 28: Philharmonie (Cologne, Germany)
Haydn: Symphony No. 49 (“La passione”); John Adams: The Wound-Dresser; Schubert: Symphony in B minor (“Unfinished”); Berg: Three Orchestral Pieces
January 30: Konzerthaus (Dortmund, Germany)
John Adams: The Wound-Dresser; Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2
February 2: Salle Pleyel (Paris, France)
Haydn: Symphony No. 49 (“La passione”); John Adams: The Wound-Dresser; Schubert: Symphony in B minor (“Unfinished”); Berg: Three Orchestral Pieces
February 4: Barbican (London, England)
Haydn: Symphony No. 49 (“La passione”); John Adams: The Wound-Dresser; Schubert: Symphony in B minor (“Unfinished”); Berg: Three Orchestral Pieces
Feb 19
Atlanta, GA
Emory University
Emerson Concert Hall
“Song of America” recital
Pianist TBA
Feb 24, 26, and 28
Zurich, Switzerland
Puccini: Tosca – Scarpia
March 29; April 3, 7, 10, 13, 17, 21, and 24
New York, NY
Metropolitan Opera
Verdi: La traviata – Germont
April 5
New York, NY
Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse
“Listening to Thought: A Guide to German Romanticism”
April 11
New York, NY
Recital at Alice Tully Hall, presented by the New York Philharmonic
April 16 and 17
New York, NY
CONTACT!, The New Music Series
World premiere of new work by Matthias Pintscher
Symphony Space (April 16)
Metropolitan Museum of Art (April 17)
New York Philharmonic
May 2, 6, 12, and 14
Zurich, Switzerland
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin (title role)
Opernhaus Zürich
May 10
Zurich, Switzerland
Recital TBA
May 28
Düsseldorf, Germany
Robert Schumann Festival
Recital
Wolfram Rieger, piano
May 30
Dublin, Ireland
Recital
Wolfram Rieger, piano
June 1
Berlin, Germany
Recital
Wolfram Rieger, piano
June 4
St. Petersburg, Russia
White Nights Festival
TBA
June 11-13
Santa Fe, NM
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
June 20
Mannheim, Germany
Gala TBA
June 26
Vienna, Austria
Vienna State Opera Gala
June 30
Vienna, Austria
Wagner: Parsifal – Amfortas
July 7
Kaliste, Czech Republic
Mahler Sesquicentennial Celebration
www.thomashampson.com
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© 21C Media Group, January 2010