Hampson, Thomas (1955– )

US baritone. He studied at the University of California in Los Angeles and at Santa Barbara, and sang at Dusseldorf from 1981, as Harlequin, the Herald in Lohengrin, Belcore, and Nanni in Haydn's L'infideltà delusa. He was Henze's Prinz von Homburg at Darmstadt in 1982, and appeared at Santa Fe in 1983 as Malatesta. His New York Metropolitan Opera House debut was in 1986, as Mozart's Count. He has been a member of the Zurich Opera and in the 1989–90 season made his Berlin and San Francisco debuts with Don Giovanni and Monteverdi's Ulisse. In 1993 he made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, as Rossini's Figaro. He has given many Lieder recitals in Europe and the USA, and sang in Mahler concerts under Bernstein in Vienna and for the new Metropolitan Opera House's 25th anniversary gala in 1991.