Thomas Hampson’s busy spring in New York has come to an end, and he heads off now for performances in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at Zurich Opera. Before leaving the city he joined colleagues at a celebration of Frederica von Stade’s remarkable forty-year career on the international stage and starred in the Manhattan School of Music 2010 Concert Gala honoring Marilyn Horne.

Photo: Dario Acosta

Hampson was the special guest at the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s 75th anniversary luncheon held for von Stade, who has been known as ‘Flicka’ since her dad gave her the nickname when she was a child, in conjunction with her farewell performance at Carnegie Hall on Thursday. Howard Kissel reported on the occasion, which took place at the Waldorf Astoria: ‘Hampson sang three selections, ‘Voi che sapete,’ from ‘Figaro,’ one of Flicka’s specialties. It is, of course, something men never sing, despite the fact the character singing it is a male teenager. It was a witty choice, and Hampson made his voice soft and touching to bring it off. He sang Mahler’s haunting ‘An die Schönheit’ movingly and ended with the one song from musical theater that is unquestionably at the level of operatic aria, Kern and Hammerstein’s ‘All the Things You Are.’ Read more

At the Manhattan School of Music gala, held at the Tribeca Rooftop on Thursday, Hampson performed a selection of Schubert, Barber and Strauss songs with Craig Rutenberg, as well as two Cole Porter favorites – ‘Begin the Beguine’ and ‘Night and Day’ – with the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra to a standing ovation from the audience.