Tonight, more than ever, Craig Rutenberg proved that he is one of the
finest singers around.  True, he sat behind the piano and his lips never
moved, but the instrument became transparent, and there was only that
heavenly singing sound.  This very large man produces some of the most
delicate notes imaginable, and he sustains the musical line with a
consistency and "rightness" that brings the greatest singers to mind.

The event, in Herbst Theater, was the first of Thomas Hampson's two
all-Mahler San Francisco Performances recitals.  Hampson was in fine voice,
and at times, he sang at his best, but the evening's most gloriously
memorable portions came from the "accompanist." Rutenberg did *not* upstage
the baritone, he blended the piano with the voice in an examplary fashion,
but whenever it was his turn to play alone, the concert went from good to
sublime.  Time and again, the audience held its breath -- and the applause
-- as Rutenberg closed the songs with notes that soared and glimmered and
died away, with an impact producing tears and catharsis.

The program was as rich and varied as it's possible using one composer and
a single genre (lieder) -- six songs under the name of "Scenes of Youth,"
the complete "Kindertotenlieder" ("Songs of Dead Children"), and "Lieder
eines fahrenden Gesellen" ("Songs of the Wayfarer"), four of the five
Rueckert Songs (with "Liebst du um Schoenheit" omitted "not to interrupt
the sequence"?!).

Hampson had a rocky start, the voice not ready for the first song, but he
quickly recovered and by "Verlorne Mueh'" ("Labor Lost"), both he and the
audience were having fun as he produced the most powerful "Germanic T" in
"ni...ttttt."

The Hampson charm -- frequently overdone -- came across as the "real thing"
in "Hans und Grete," the "Juhe!  Juche!" hurrahs ringing out with boyish
abandon, to smiles and chuckles all around.

To Rutenberg's mighty introductory gallop, Hampson started the "Trost im
Unglueck" ("Solace in Misfortune") hussar song, fell behind the rhythm,
stopped, apologized, and started again.  Both here and elsewhere during
the evening, he occasionally wandered off key -- something San Francisco
audiences, who have heard Hampson regularly since his Merola days, are not
used to.  There was some scooping and high notes that didn't quite work,
but the Hampson *presence* and musical intelligence won the day.

By "Erinnerung" ("Remembering"), Hampson was in full voice, and
"Kindertotenlieder" built steadily and affectingly.  With Rutenberg's
"bridges" between the songs, it was a remarkable performance, until the
final song ("In diesem Wetter") when both singer and pianist came up short
in expressing the anger and desperation leading to the final resignation.

Power from Hampson came with an impact in "Um Mitternacht" ("At Midnight"),
with the final lines thundering through the hall.  The concluding "Ich bin
der Welt..." ("I have lost track of the world") brought the finest joint
work from the two -- Hampson's tone noble, Rutenberg's playing breathtaking
-- and then, surpassing everything he did all evening long, the pianist
produced a final note that stunned the audience:  music that became silence
and yet persisted long into the night.

Janos Gereben/SF
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