Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn will also be recorded by Hampson as part of SFS media’s award-winning Mahler cycle

Hampson to make his Russian debut at the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg on May 29, 2007 in the first recital to be performed in the newly rebuilt Mariinsky Theatre

On Friday, May 18, Thomas Hampson will return to Carnegie Hall to perform four songs from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. This performance will be the first in a tour that also includes concerts in Vienna on May 22 and Prague on May 25. Earlier this month Hampson performed and recorded the songs for the SFS Media label as part of its Grammy-winning Mahler series. Last Sunday in a preview story about his performances in San Francisco, the San Jose Mercury News wrote, “It’s not enough that Thomas Hampson is one of the greatest living baritones, a leading recitalist and opera stage performer. He also is a scholar, co-editor of a critical edition of Mahler songs, and a Web innovator.” The Mahler recording will be finished in September 2007 when Hampson returns to San Francisco to perform and record Mahler’s transcendent Das Lied von der Erde with the orchestra.

Although Hampson is well-known for his extensive Mahler discography, this recording of Des Knaben Wunderhorn marks the first time he will record these songs with orchestra.

Following the San Francisco Symphony tour, Hampson will perform a recital at the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg. Remarkably, this performance will be Hampson’s Russian debut. He will perform a recital of German lieder followed by American songs with pianist Wolfram Rieger; this will be the first recital to take place in the newly rebuilt Mariinsky Theatre. During June Mr. Hampson will perform recitals in Cologne and Amsterdam, and he will appear in Arabella at the Zurich Opera and in Thaïs at Covent Garden in London.