Thomas Hampson joins the NHK Symphony Orchestra on September 26 and 27, singing selections from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Based on a compilation of German folk songs, poems, and aphorisms, Des Knaben Wunderhorn covers a vast array of subjects and emotions, from wistful romance to soldiers’ tales to talking animals. The orchestra, led by Ryan Bancroft, will also play Sibelius’ mythology-inspired tone poems, Four Legends from the Kalevala, Op. 22. 

Hampson is widely known as one of the world’s preeminent interpreters of Mahler’s songs, and has released two previous recordings of this canonical work. The first pairs Hampson and pianist Geoffrey Parsons, performing the original piano settings, described as a “revelatory” performance by James Leonard. The other features Hampson alongside the Wiener Virtuosen, a chamber ensemble of the highly acclaimed principal players of the Wiener Philharmoniker. Gramophone praised Hampson for his “thoughtful, intelligent singing” on this recording, with the Daily Telegraph remarking that “Mahler’s whole world is here, rendered in a fabulously piercing and tender performance.”