Heidelberger Frühling Festival Will Be Live Streamed, 4/29, and On Demand Through 5/6

On Sunday, April 29, Germany's Heidelberger Frühling festival presents its first live video stream, offering a program of opera highlights from two world-class singers: baritone Thomas Hampson and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni.

Accompanied by the WDR Rundfunkorchester under Massimo Zanetti, they will perform to a sold-out audience; the concert marks the last night of the 16th Heidelberger Frühling, which has – since its opening on March 23 – been showcasing internationally renowned artists in the picturesque setting of the city known as "the cradle of German Romanticism." The April 29 live stream, sponsored by the German consulting firm MLP, will be available free of charge on www.thomashampson.com, www.lucapisaroni.com, and www.mlp-heidelberger-fruehling.de at 12 noon EDT (6 pm CET). The stream will also be available on demand until May 6. Meanwhile, New Yorkers can watch Hampson in an interview with Paula Zahn when he is profiled on THIRTEEN's NYC-ARTS show, to be broadcast tonight at 8 pm EDT; fans outside the New York area can see the segment online at www.nyc-arts.org.

Hampson and Pisaroni's program on April 29 will include duets from operas such as Verdi's Don Carlos ("Restate!") and Bellini's I puritani ("Il rival salvar; Suoni la tromba") and arias from their respective repertoires, which – put together – comprise an extensive and wide-ranging collection of more than 100 roles. Combining Pisaroni's dark, powerful bass-baritone with Hampson's famously lyrical baritone, the duo offers a unique blend of strength and subtlety, rich imagination and consummate musicianship.

Hampson, who was recently seen by TV audiences worldwide in CNN's "Fusion Journeys" series, announces the live stream (in German only) in a short trailer on YouTube. He is particularly pleased to share the stage with his son-in-law, Pisaroni, who recently starred in the Metropolitan Opera's new productions of Don Giovanni and The Enchanted Island and "whose career lately is in the sharply ascendant," according to the New York Times. "Luca will be the next great bass-baritone, I'm sure," says Hampson. "It is a great pleasure to work with such an exceptional artist."

"I am sure music lovers around the world will be watching our festival finale," says Thorsten Schmidt, executive director of the Heidelberger Frühling. "Hampson is the ideal artist for our first live stream, not only because of his absolutely outstanding singing, but also because he has grappled with the possibilities of new media more intensely than any other musician I know. And we are thrilled to have Luca Pisaroni make his debut at our festival."

"Of course experiencing a concert over the internet is different from experiencing a concert live," Hampson admits. "But new media offer us great opportunities to reach audiences who either cannot or will not attend a classical concert in person, not as a competitor to the concert experience, but as a modern and useful addition. It's just another way one can and should enjoy classical music."

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