‘Des Knaben Wunderhorn’ with the Wiener Virtuosen at the Musikverein
On February 24, Thomas Hampson, clarinetist Daniel Ottensamer, and the Wiener Virtuosen perform music by Mozart, Mahler, and Dvořák at the Musikverein. Hampson will perform Dvořák’s Zigeunerlieder and songs from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a work he has championed and recorded with the Wiener Virtuosen. Released in Mahler Year 2011, the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death, the album was Hampson’s first ever studio recording of the orchestra version of Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Purchase links and information available via Hampson’s Recordings.
Mr. Hampson has recorded nearly 20 Mahler albums to date, including long-famous renditions with the epochal Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic for DG at the Musikverein, and he has performed the songs around the world and studied them extensively throughout his career. The Wiener Virtuosen, a chamber ensemble of highly acclaimed principal players of the Wiener Philharmoniker complete the evening’s program with Mozart’s Concerto for clarinet and orchestra interpreted by Mr. Ottensamer, followed by Dvořák’s Serenade for String Orchestra.
Recent acclaim of Des Knaben Wunderhorn in Australia last year:
“A notable interpreter of Mahler’s vocal music, Hampson concluded the first half of the program with five songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. A graceful, smiling Frülingsmorgen was followed by Aus! Aus! with its marching rhythms and opportunities for humour, which he fully exploited. Poignantly expressed grief, a homesick deserter’s sad tale of capture and, finally, the fluctuating emotions of Der Schildwache Nachtlied (The Sentinel’s Song), which ended on the softest head resonance, had listeners removed to other worlds.” (Classic Melbourne)