Thomas Hampson Makes Metropolitan Opera Role Debut as Verdi’s Macbeth

Thomas Hampson made his American role debut as Verdi's Macbeth in 2007, and now for the first time the baritone brings this signature role to the Metropolitan Opera, giving the first of six performances on March 15, when the company revives Adrian Noble's production. 

Noble's innovative staging, which sets Macbeth's action in the years after the Second World War, is complemented by Mark Thompson's set and costume design, with acclaimed Italian maestro Gianandrea Noseda on the podium. Joining Hampson on stage is German soprano Nadja Michael as Lady Macbeth, who sang the same role opposite him at Chicago's Lyric Opera; the New York Review of Books confessed to never having seen a "better performed version than this, with the thunder-voiced Hampson and the sexy Michael at the top of their game." Austrian bass Günther Groissböck sings Banquo, and tenor Dimitri Pittas reprises Macduff, the role in which he impressed the New York Times with his "melting sound and dramatic urgency" at the production's opening run.

Of Verdi's depiction of Shakespeare's conflicted protagonist, Hampson says: "I don't know of anyone who writes better human expression in music than Verdi. It's quite exhilarating. How you can hear in music a personality: that just fascinates me. He does everything to convey the psychological state of his characters. That is his genius. And Verdi is so adept at depicting the duality of Macbeth. He's a very ambiguous character; you like him, you hate him. It's not just black and white."

Having starred in multiple Macbeth productions around the world, the baritone explains: "Since I know it well, I think I can go further with this part. The biggest advantage is that you gain a three-dimensional confidence…so that you can actually physically do something or project something that is ironic or contradictory to what the music and words are. It takes a lot of practice to do that. Also, just vocally, you grow into it. To sing opera is a complex endeavor." 

There will be an opportunity to hear the singer expound further when the Metropolitan Opera Guild honors Thomas Hampson with the third installment in its prestigious "Mastersingers" series. On March 22 at New York's Hunter College, "Met Mastersingers: Thomas Hampson" presents the great baritone in an informal conversation with Paul Gruber, the Guild's executive director of program development. The program will include video excerpts of Hampson's most celebrated performances, a new video biography created for the occasion, and a performance by the baritone of some of his favorite songs.

Gruber observes: "I have enormous admiration and respect for Thomas Hampson, and am delighted that the Guild will celebrate him as this year's 'Met Mastersinger.' In addition to having perhaps the most beautiful baritone voice of his generation, he has never rested in his quest to expand his musical horizons, as well as those of his audience. Thomas Hampson is the very definition of a mastersinger."

Additional information about Thomas Hampson is available at www.thomashampson.com, and a list of his upcoming U.S. engagements follows.