by Mike Richter
There is an image in my mind of the spirit of Mahler persuading his leader (whichever one) to create a perfect instrument. It would have to be rich in tone but played by one who still had both youthful drive and a wealth of experience - of Angst - to make that elan a paradox. The instrument is the voice and the drive comes from the mind of Thomas Quasthoff.
Thanks to friends, I have heard far more of Quasthoff's broadcasts than most. Of course, there's the fine commercial Winterreise, but I would not be surprised if he were to supersede that recording soon; there is nothing wrong with it IMHO, but he has moved beyond that level. In practice, he seems to surpass himself on each outing. If you heard him at last year's Schubertiade, you encountered a set of unique readings of Lieder often routinely performed and another group of less common songs brought to life as few have managed. In Boston, you could have heard a Lied von der Erde whose "Abschied" is still resonating - so slow that one cannot believe it could be sustained, yet sung with an unending legato. New York had an ill-assembled Des Knaben Wunderhorn in which each of his songs gleamed. Chicago had only the baritone's brief contribution to the Deutsches Requiem, but his ''Herr, lehre doch mich'' was more than enough to justify the price of admission. (I must note that the chorus, orchestra and conductor (Barenboim) were also superb and I found the soprano acceptable if not up to the extraordinary standard set by the other forces.)
Quasthoff's voice is unique in sound. In general, it is darker than that of van Dam - the only current singer whom I would use as a reference. Yet he sings very nearly as a tenor when he wishes, raising the timbre and lightening the tone as no one else I have ever heard. The comparison I will make is with Marian Anderson, whose voices were sharply delineated where Quasthoff's are integrated; and whose expression of text seems more immediate than intellectual, just as Quasthoff's does.
If we are to hear him in opera on recording, we may have to skip the roles I would most want. There is no Daland for his Holländer or Holländer for his Daland; he would have to do both roles and would need Heppner and either Mattila or Voigt to provide hope of balance. I'd beg to resurrect a conductor, though; Barenboim might do, but it would take Rodzinski (Walter and Mitropoulos as alternates) for full value.
Regardless of what he sings, Thomas Quasthoff should be heard. Those who have had the experience live (which I have not) report surprise at the size of the voice as well as at its quality. However, those observations seem to be delayed until the hearer has recovered from the emotional experience.