Search - Thomas Hampson :: Art of Thomas Hampson 1

This record presents Mahler's early songs in a new light, featuring the Songs of a Wayfarer in the original version with piano, 3 songs published only recently, and 11 songs in orchestrations by Luciano Berio. Supreme as conductor and symphonist, Mahler clearly had orchestral colors in mind when writing his piano accompaniments; his masterful orchestrations of many of them quickly inspired contemporary devotees to add their own, notably Robert Heger and Lothar Windsperger. Berio's arrangements are admirably Mahlerian in sound and style: skillfully using winds, harps, and drum rolls, he imitates bird calls, nature sounds, and military signals, underlining words and atmosphere and evoking both glittering colors and ominous somberness. Only occasionally does he succumb to the temptation to become too loud and lush. In two songs that appear twice, the simpler version is more affecting. Thomas Hampson, well-known as a distinguished Mahler interpreter, is superb. His voice is beautiful, impeccably pure, warm, and variable (he can carry on a conversation in two voices), his diction exemplary. He rather overdramatizes the Wayfarer songs, but his identification with every mood, character, and expression is complete throughout, from yearning, grief, and spine-chilling dread to lighthearted humor and irony. Pianist David Lutz supports him splendidly, and wisely does not attempt to imitate an orchestra in the Wayfarer selections. --Edith Eisler