(Credit: © Gerhard Ringhofer)

The 25th Heidelberger Frühling Festival has announced a program change for its concert on April 22.

The festival said, “unfortunately Thomas Hampson, who is suffering from long-term COVID effects, has to cancel his full-length song recital at the festival. His piano partner Elena Bashkirova cannot perform either as she is helping her husband, Daniel Barenboim, who is unwell. At short notice, the bass singer Günther Groissböck and his accompanist Alexandra Goloubitskaia were persuaded to organize a recital.”

As a result, Groissböck and Goloubitskaia will perform songs by Robert Schumann, Hans Rott, Anton Bruckner, Hugo Wolf, Modest Mussorgski and Gustav Mahler.

Hampson is set to return to the stage for a concert in Bamberg and for performances of “Girl with a Pearl Earring” at the Opernhaus Zurich.