There’s nothing more useless than a bronchoid opera singer,” jokes Thomas Hampson, who’s just recovered from the flu in time to star in Alban Berg’s “Wozzeck” at the Met through March 22. It’s yet another role for the Spokane, Wash. -born baritone, who’s made a memorable Don Giovanni and Germond, the forceful father of “La Traviata,” among many others.
Offstage, his favorite roles are that of teacher — he’s on the board of the Manhattan School of Music — and champion of American classical song. “If there ever was a culture that has a diary of experience, it’s America,” he says. “I think poetry set to music is one of the great evidences of culture.”
Here’s what’s in this singer’s library.
The One World Schoolhouse
by Salman Khan
I’m passionate about the arts and humanities in education — they’re the blueprint of who we are, and it’s ridiculous to relegate them to electives. What will education look like in five or 10 years, and how can we shape it to become a more interesting, accessible prospect? We don’t have the same DNA as these kids who are coming up. Khan’s getting a great deal of attention for this.
The War that Ended Peace
by Margaret MacMillan
I’m terribly focused on the fact that life before and after World War I were cataclysmically different. A lot of books have been written about the hundred dollar question: How did we end up at war? MacMillan’s book looks at how we handled the end of that war. She’s a wonderful writer.
The Greater Journey
by David McCullough
I think McCullough is the cat’s pajamas! He shook my hand once, and I didn’t wash it for a week. This book is a collection of extraordinary stories of major American idealists and explorers — Samuel Morse, Mark Twain, Oliver Wendell Holmes — who left the comforts of home for France, specifically Paris, and found their genius there.
Forbidden Music: The Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis
by Michael Haas
Michael is a very good friend of mine. He produced a series in Salzburg about forbidden music. This book came out last year, but it’s more than a documentary about that series: It’s one of the more significant books exploring anti-Semitism.