THE ART OF Thomas Hampson
Fri, May 05, 2023, 7.30 pm - 9.00 pm
Solist
Thomas Hampson
Baritone
U.S. baritone Thomas Hampson has long been considered one of the most innovative musicians of our time and has received countless international awards for his unique artistic output and cultural leadership. His operatic repertoire includes more than 80 roles, and his discography includes more than 170 albums that have received multiple Grammy Award nominations, the Edison Award, and the Grand Prix du Disque.
Highlights of Thomas Hampson's 2022/23 season include a gala concert with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Fabio Luisi and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham. Accompanied by the Würth Philharmonic, he joins bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni in the acclaimed program "No Teors Allowed." He also sings Mahler songs with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Belgian National Orchestra, the Trondheim Symfoniorkester, the Orchestre National de Lyon and MDR Leipzig, with whom he can also be heard at the Philharmonie Berlin and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. Hampson also has a leading role in the Mahler Festival Leipzig.
As part of chamber music projects, Hampson performs in the season's opening concert with the New Century Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Hope. He can be heard at the Turku Music Festival with Vlad Iftinca and at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, as well as at the Mozart Hall in Stuttgart and at Schloss Elmau with Wolfram Rieger. He also sings Schubert's Dichterliebe at the KKL Luzern with Martha Argerich. Later in the season, Hampson returns to the Opéra national de Paris to make his highly anticipated role debut as Richard Nixon in Adams' Nixon in China, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.
Last season, he embodied the role of Jan Vermeer in the world premiere of Stefan Wirth's Girl with a Pearl Earring at Zurich Opera House and starred as Don Alfonso in Mozart's Così fan tutte at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Hampson returned to the Teatro Real de Madrid and traveled to the Castell de Peralada Festival to play the title role in Rufus Wainwright's Hadrian. On the concert stage, he has performed with the Oslo Philharmonic and cellist Sol Gabetta under the baton of Klaus Mäkelä, as well as with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Klangforum Wien, and the Prague Symphony, among others. He has given organ recitals with Martin Haselböck at the Dresden Philharmonic, with Christian Schmitt at the Tonhalle Zurich, and a recital with Wolfram Rieger at the Alte Kirche Boswil.
Hampson is honorary professor of philosophy at the University of Heidelberg and honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London. In addition to several honorary doctorates, he is Kammersänger of the Vienna State Opera and Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the Republic of France. In 2017, he received the Hugo Wolf Medal together with Wolfram Rieger. Hampson is co-founder and artistic director of the Liedakademie Heidelberg. His other teaching engagements include returning to the fourth edition of the Waiblingen Opera Workshop with Melanie Diener. In 2003, he established the Hampsong Foundation, through which he uses the art of song to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding. His international masterclass program is a permanent online resource of Medici.tv, the Manhattan School of Music and the Hampsong Foundation's livestream channel.
photo: Marshall Light Studio
Klavier
Wolfram Rieger
Piano
Wolfram Rieger received his first piano lessons from his parents and later from Konrad Pfeiffer in Regensburg. He soon developed a deep affection for Lied interpretation and therefore continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich with the famous Lied pianists Prof. Dr. Erik Werba and Prof. Helmut Deutsch. After earning diploma with distinction, he attended several masterclasses with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Hans Hotter and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Even during his studies he began teaching at Munich's Hochschule für Musik until in 1991 he started his own Lieder class for singers and pianists In 1998 he became Professor of a Lied class at Berlin's Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler". Wolfram Rieger regularly holds masterclasses in Europe and Japan.
Wolfram Rieger is a regular guest artist at many important music centres and festivals throughout the world, including the Schubertiade Feldkirch, Schubertiada a Vilabertran, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Châtelet, London's Wigmore Hall, New York's Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Salzburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Munich Festivals, Konzerthaus Berlin and Kölner Philharmonie. He appears both as recital accompanist and chamber musician with such renowned artists as Brigitte Fassbaender, Barbara Bonney, Juliane Banse,Michelle Breedt, Anja Harteros, Christiane Karg, Thomas Hampson, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Olaf Bär, Matthias Goerne, Thomas Quasthoff, Peter Schreier, Michael Schade, The Cherubini Quartet, The Vogler Quartet , The Petersen Quartet among many others.
A prolific recording artist, Mr. Rieger is well-represented on numerous CDs., many of which received various awards.
Awards and distinctions include the honorary medal of the Associació Franz Schubert de Barcelona and the Hugo-Wolf-Medal of the International Hugo-Wolf-Akademie Stuttgart.
photo: Daniel Pasche
