Thomas Hampson reunites with frequent collaborator Wolfram Rieger on April 26, appearing in recital at the Quebec Music Club at the Salle Henri-Gagnon in Quebec City. With wars raging around the world, the diverse program focuses on the theme of freedom. In a recent interview with La Scena Musicale, Hampson said, “Programming is all about telling a story and the dramaturgie of a recital. I always try to find ways to bring different composers into a particular subject matter. Here, it is freedom. The question behind that is the following: What is it that we sing to defend a country, what do we sing to commiserate the ones that we lost?”

The program includes pieces by Gustav Mahler, Alexander Zemlinsky, Paul Hindemith, Charles Ives, and Antonín Dvořák. Hampson will also sing Jennifer Higdon’s Civil Words, composed for the baritone in 2015 to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The recital concludes with a set of art songs that set the words of Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman, featuring music by Harry T. Burleigh, Margaret Bonds, Jean Berger, and Leonard Bernstein.