Kathy and I are back from a trip to the wonderful city of Boston! Our reason for going was so I could attend the national convention of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, a huge event every other summer at which 600-700 voice teachers from across the country gather. These conventions have occurred in New Orleans, Minneapolis, Nashville, Salt Lake City, and Orlando – and in several instances, this event has given me the opportunity to explore a great American city which I had never visited before. I had been to Boston back in high school with my family (very briefly) – and the summer before we were married, Kathy and I took a trip to New England which took us close to Boston if not really into the heart of it. But this trip was the first time I ever had the chance to really seriously explore Boston, and both Kathy and I had a ball- and much of our fun had to do with two guys named Tom. More of that in a moment.
My convention began on the 5th, but we got to Boston on the 3rd so we could celebrate the 4th of July in this amazing city that is such a significant part of our country’s story. As it turns out, it’s good we got there on the 3rd because the Pops concert and fireworks were moved from the 4th to the 3rd when it became certain that Hurricane Arthur (or at least the outer fringes of the storm) was going to come crashing into Boston on the 4th. As it is, a whopper of a storm came in from the west that night (completely separate from Arthur) which necessitated the concert being cut short so the fireworks could be completed before the storm hit. And it’s a good thing they did that, because the storm DID hit … juat as tens of thousands of us were streaming away from the river banks towards downtown Boston. It was actually pretty freaky. As Kathy and I were walking along with the throng, we suddenly heard from a few blocks away the sound of hundreds of people screaming …. sounding for all the world like a scene from a Godzilla movie …. or even more ominously, a lot like the sound of screaming people on 9-11 when each of the towers fell. The sound of the screaming came closer and closer, but we still had no idea what was going on – until we suddenly felt huge raindrops begin to fall. Three seconds later, the sky opened up in perhaps the worst downpour Kathy and I have ever seen! (So THAT’S what that distant rumbling was that we had heard shortly after the fireworks finished up!) In no time at all, we were soaked to the skin- but all we could do was laugh – and it seemed like most of the people around us were laughing as well.
We had other adventures in Boston that had nothing to do with getting drenched in the rain. The highlights included an amazing trip around Boston on both land and sea – the iconic Duck Tour, which one takes in a vehicle patterned after military vehicles that can travel both on land and in water, and does! We enjoyed a stroll through Boston’s exquisite Public Garden and Boston Commons, which also (quite by chance) took us past the bar which served as the exterior for the bar on Cheers! We shopped along Newbury Street, which has one amazing shop after another, plus delicious $3.50 cupcakes that should not be missed. We indulged ourselves in Boston Creme Pie (perhaps my all-time favorite dessert) at the Omni Parker House hotel, which is where it was invented! And in a side trip which I absolutely loved, we visited the JFK Presidential Library and Museum- and incredible place!
And now I have to tell you about the Two Tom’s who made the trip even more unforgettable for us! One of them was a dear friend of Kathy’s who is also very likely the most illustrious music graduate in Carthage’s long history. Tom Vignieri multiple-pronged claim to fame includes stints as director of the Tanglewood Institute . . . manager of the Handel-Haydn Society (the longest continually operating music organization in America, about to celebrate its 200th anniversary . . . and now producer of “At the Top,” an Emmy Award winning program on both NPR and PBS which showcases some of the most brilliant child prodigies from across the country. But for all the honors and accolades which Tom has earned, he is still very much the sweet, gracious and approachable guy he always was. And for us he was a superb host. Our very first day there, we shared lunch together and then enjoyed a private tour of Symphony Hall (the venerable home of the Boston Symphony and one of the most hallowed musical venues in the country) which he arranged with a friend on the staff there. It was an amazing surprise! And on our last full day in Boston, Tom arranged for us to meet him at work at the end of the day so we could take the train together to Cambridge – where he showed us the hallowed grounds of Harvard University before we all met up with Tom’s wife and two children for a splendid dinner. And when that was done, Tom generously insisted that he drive us all the way back to Boston, depositing us on the doorstep of our hotel. Now that’s what I call exceptional graciousness!
The second “Tom” who helped make this a truly unforgettable trip was none other than Thomas Hampson, one of the most acclaimed baritones in the world. On our second to last night there, he presented a recital in one of the most beautiful recital venues I’ve ever seen in my life- Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory of Music. It was a program split between songs of Richard Strauss (this is his 150th anniversary year) and various American songs- all sung with breathtaking beauty and expressiveness. And think about it; he was singing for an audience filled with voice teachers and aspiring young singers . . . presumably the toughest audience one could sing for! And what he delivered was, hands down, the finest vocal recital with piano that most of us (certainly I) had ever seen. (One of the best things about it was that he is 59 years old but singing as well as he ever has – and although he has already sung on major stages for 30 years, he sounds like he could do so for 30 more!
(I’d seen Hampson several times before at the Lyric Opera of Chicago – in several HD simulcasts from the Metropolitan Opera – and even at the Vienna State Opera when the Carthage Alumni Choir went there in the late 1990’s. I bought standing room tickets to see Wagner’s Tannhäuser and Verdi’s Don Carlo, and Hampson’s performance in the latter garnered one of the biggest ovations of the night. And several summers ago, I got to record a phone interview with Hampson to help publicize a recital of American songs which he sang at Lake Geneva for their summer music series. It was an incredible privilege to speak with him and to pose questions to this exceptionally intelligent artist.)
I have to confess here that in my CD review column for the Journal of Singing (the official publication of NATS) I have written some critical things about Hampson and how self-conscious and mannered his singing can sometimes be, as though he were determined to help the music along by slathering on a thick layer of expressiveness that can actually obscure the music’s intrinsic beauty. I’m not the only critic who has said this about Hampson, but I’ve said it pretty forcefully in more than one column. Well, Monday night’s recital absolutely blew me away and made me feel like I should go back and retract every negative thing I had ever written about him or about his singing! And although that’s obviously impossible to do, I did the next best thing: I wrote an absolutely ecstatic review of his new recording of Strauss songs….. a rave which he earned fair and square.
One last thing about Thomas Hampson: as he introduced his final encore, he thanked us in the most charming fashion – and had eloquent words of praise for NATS and for voice teachers everywhere. He then said something to the effect that he looked forward to seeing everyone bright and early the next morning at 9 a.m. Someone in the front row called up to the stage that Hampson’s master class wasn’t until 10:30, to which he replied that he was planning on attending a presentation on “teaching American history through art song” at 9 – a presentation being done by one of my Journal of Singing colleagues, Judith Carman. I was already planning on going in order to support her, but I made absolutely certain to be there to see if Mr. Hampson in fact appeared. And sure enough – he was, the morning after delivering such a spectacular recital. And after that came his master class – and an afternoon question & answer session – which only deepened everyone’s admiration for his intelligence and passion and integrity as one of our most treasurable artists.
Thank you, Tom Vignieri. Thank you, Thomas Hampson. And thank you, Boston, for an incredibly fun and fascinating time!
pictured above: Tom Vignieri and his friend from Symphony Hall help Kathy and I appreciate the many special touches that make it such a spectacular space, loved by performers and audiences alike.