Thomas Hampson

Thomas Hampson

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OrangeCoast Magazine - Interviews - Thomas Hampson

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celebrity interviewsThomas HampsonThomas HampsonJanuary 2000 issue

Baritone Thomas Hampson is passionate about song, whether he be singing Mahler or Merle Haggard.

By Patrick Mott - Photography Courtesy of EMI Classics/Angel Records

The most celebrated American baritone of his generation has been chewing over the idea of a new gig.He wants to sing a little Merle Haggard.Real emotions-on-the-sleeve material : falling hard, getting dumped, swearing revenge, landing in the hoosegow, that sort of thing.This, says Thomas Hampson, is timeless stuff.

I think it would be quite interesting to have a kind of catchy recital called From Heinrich Heine to Merle Haggard, says Hampson. Actually take three or four main themes of human passion love, jealousy, fear, anger and look at them over the course of 200 years, from the German romanticism of Heine up through the country-western music of today.

To some among his legions of enthusiastic fans around the world, the idea of Thomas Hampson stepping out of his Wagnerian or Verdian stage wardrobe and into a pair of Levis and Tony Lamas and belting out twangy songs about cryin' in your beer might seem incongruous at best.But to Hampson, grand opera and the Grand Ole Opry are sisters under the skin.Whether your operatic army just got wiped out or your hound dog just died, to Hampson it be all about common experience captured in song.

Song, the universality of a story set to music, is Hampson's great passion, and this month Orange County audiences will be able to hear him essay some of the most demanding and emotionally wide-ranging songs in the solo classical repertoire.On the nights of Jan. 25 and 27 in the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Hampson performs in recital, singing songs by the revolutionary early 20th century Austrian composer Gustav Mahler.It will be the latest stop on a taxing schedule of concerts, recitals, teaching engagements, opera and other appearances around the world that today fill Hampson's calendar to the edges.At 44, Hampson has become one of the most sought-after classical male voices in the world.His repertoire points up his consuming musical curiosity, his breadth of interests in the arts and literature and his great capacity for musical research.

Born in Elkhart, Ind., and raised in Washington, Hampson was one of a family of four children whose parents encouraged their musical ambitions.As a boy, he learned the flute and piano, and even played the tuba in the junior high school band.In high school, however, it was his voice that began to be noticed.Hampson played baseball, basketball, golf and tennis on high school teams and was the student body president of his high school.But it was the maturity of his singing in a choir and as a soloist that attracted the ear of a somewhat unlikely mentor.

Sister Marietta Coyle, a Catholic nun who had once studied voice with Lotte Lehmann, counseled Hampson, who had his eyes set on a career in law : that be all well and good, she said. You should study.But, my dear young man, you are an artist, and when you want to know more about that, please be in touch.A few months later, Hampson became Coyle's pupil.Hampson made his operatic debut at age 19 in Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, and pursued college degrees at separate schools : he graduated from Eastern Washington University with a bachelor's degree in government and from Fort Wright College of the Holy Names in Spokane with a bachelor of fine arts degree in voice.

Moving to Southern California in 1979, Hampson studied at the Music Academy of the West and embarked on the Southern California musical contest circuit, winning, among other competitions, the San Francisco Opera Auditions.After landing roles in Germany and the United States, Hampson won the New York Metropolitan Opera National Auditions in New York.After singing largely in Germany in the early 1980s, he came to New York to audition for conductor James Levine and, in 1986, performed to great acclaim at the Met as the count in The Marriage of Figaro.

Since his Met debut, Hampson has appeared in opera and in recital frequently in both Europe and the United States.He has also collaborated on two public television programs about American song, and often conducts master classes in voice.

Currently, Hampson maintains homes in Walla Walla, Wash., and in Vienna.He maintains a Web site, www.hampsong.com, to which he regularly contributes essays and solicits exchanges from other net surfers about music and the arts.He is particularly passionate about collecting rare books, recordings and music manuscripts, and can frequently be found on the golf course. i be particularly looking forward to playing at Pelican Hill when I come back to Orange County, he said in a recent telephone interview from his Vienna home.

you have sung many great operatic and solo roles in your career, but you be particularly drawn to performing songs.Why.

I think song is one of the great doorways to an understanding and a love of music.If you have got any sense of imagination, you be a sucker for song, I can tell you.I do feel like a storyteller.