Product Description

If American song needs an evangelist, no one is better equipped to do the right job than Thomas Hampson, says the Chicago Tribune. The American baritone s commitment to the songs of his home country is well known, and his frequent Song of America concerts help prove the point. Now Hampson has recorded and released Wondrous Free, a 22-track selection of American songs, under his own imprint, THM (Thomas Hampson Media). Titles include the first song published in the new country, composed by Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a gentleman patriot well versed in the arts and sciences of his day. Hopkinson s My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free lends its title to Hampson s disc, which also includes Leonard Bernstein s Simple Song from Mass, the traditional Shenandoa, Paul Bowles s four Blue Mountain Ballads, and Charles Ives s Memories , which closes out the CD. -- Thomas Hampson's beautiful voice and delivery, enhanced by his encyclopedic knowledge of American song, are showcased on this generously programmed CD, released to support his continuing Song of America concert tour dates (listed below). It s a handsome survey of more than two centuries of American song. From Stephen Foster s Hard Times and Nelly Was a Lady to Charles Ives s Songs My Mother Taught Me , his tragic In Flanders Fields , and MacDowell s The Sea , these songs are America in word and melody. Hampson sings them in a natural acoustic, with his masterful regular pianist partners, Wolfram Rieger and Craig Rutenberg. Wondrous Free became an instant bestseller when pre-released for download on iTunes earlier this year and is now available on CD from retailers like Amazon as well.