Thomas Hampson sings Schumann
Thomas Hampson; Wolfram Rieger
Medici Arts 2072508
American Baritone Thomas Hampson has proven himself a formidable presence on both opera and recital stages. His credibility portraying a character or presenting an art song is rooted in his personal and artistic maturity. He has demonstrated his ease with a wide range of repertoire reflecting his conviction that singers should sing what they want and what they can.
This DVD recording presents a 2007 concert in Munich where the audience listens with palpable intensity to a cultural foreigner performing German music and poetry that has no equal in the American experience. Hampson’s spiritual kinship with Schumann’s music and his poets (Kerner, Heine) afford him the access to the deeper nuances that German audiences expect.
Intriguing too is the fact that Hampson’s own research on the 20 Lieder und Gesange, Op.48 uncovered an early Schumann manuscript which predates the cuts and changes made to the commonly published editions we have known for decades. Hampson adds four recovered songs and restores both text and music to Schumann’s original.
Fans of Op. 48 will enjoy the well known Ich grolle nicht to which Hampson brings more intensity than is commonly expected. Curiously though, Hampson opts to avoid the optional high note in the latter portion of this brief Lied. As a baritone with a reputation for a strong upper range, and having demonstrated that very ability in the first half of the recital (Zwolf Gedichte Op.35), one can only assume that fatigue commended the choice of the lower note.
The performance is altogether a very serious one and accurately captures Schumann’s melancholy mindset allowing only occasional rays of sunlight to appear. Accompanist Wolfram Rieger is a superb companion for Hampson in this performance and deserves the equal place he takes with Hampson in the final bows.
