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THOMAS HAMPSON
EUROPE TO AMERICA



Sunday’s wonderful Jordan Hall recital by baritone Thomas Hampson — courtesy of the FleetBoston Celebrity Series — demonstrated an intelligent mastery of a diverse array of music. Beethoven and Mahler filled the first half; America dominated the second, with six "American Art and Folk Songs" following five settings of Walt Whitman. The latter showed a fascinating array of musical approaches to America’s greatest poet, from the impressionism of Charles Naginski’s "Look Down Fair Moon" to the spiritual-tinged "Ethiopia Saluting the Colors" by the African-American composer Henry Burleigh. Hampson, who knows more about American song than most, was keenly attuned to each number, especially William Neidlinger’s harrowing setting of the famous "Memories of Lincoln." And he inhabited the idiom of the folk songs that closed the concert, rendering them simply and without a trace of kitsch. Aaron Copland’s famous arrangement of "The Boatmen’s Dance" was memorable.

Hampson also knows quite a bit about Mahler, and the first half featured some of the very best Mahler singing I have heard. Rather than assembling his favorites, he organized the seven songs around themes of separation and war. Four of them were from Mahler’s youth, and he reveled in their alternating wit and longing. The other three were from the great collection of folk-poetry settings Des Knaben Wunderhorn ("The Youth’s Magic Horn"). When he let loose the full power of his voice — as at the climax of "Der Schildwache Nachtlied" ("The Sentinel’s Night Song") — it was terrifying. And his portrayal of the wounded soldier in "Reveille" was so searing, it seemed to burst through the bounds of European art song into Expressionism. Wolfram Rieger’s accompaniments sounded symphonic in their range of moods and colors, here as elsewhere in the program. Both musicians seemed drained by the experience.

The only item that fell short was Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte ("To the Distant Beloved"), which opened the program. This was music’s first song cycle, and its greatness lies in its evocative simplicity. Hampson seemed so intent on capturing and magnifying every detail that the natural sense of flow was lost. He works hard to embody his characters, but here it seemed too much of a good thing.

Before his third and final encore, he gave a short (and liberal) sermon, extolling the arts and jokingly declaring what he called "a war on ignorance in this country." It seemed a bit preachy and highhanded, but his directness and sincerity bailed him out again. Some humor didn’t hurt: that final encore, which he slyly labeled "a bit of fundraising," turned out to be "You Can’t Take It with You."

BY DAVID WEININGER

Issue Date: October 24 - 30, 2003
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