June 20, 2000 - Edgar Schmidt in Voralberger Nachtrichten
... Der deutsche Sänger lässt gewiss noch Schönstes erwarten (er wird z.B. in drei bzw. vier Jahren auf der Opernbühne als Don Fernando bei den Salzburger Osterfestspielen [April 2003] und als Amfortas in Wien zu hören sein)...
June 23, 2000 - Janos Gereben reports from Eugene
Returning to his U.S. "home," Thomas Quasthoff sang gloriously tonight in Eugene, in an otherwise just-OK Beethoven Ninth which opened the Oregon Bach Festival.
Then, surrounded by fans asking, nay, demanding if he would please add opera to his repertoire, Quasthoff at first maintained his long-standing "just say no" policy. Oratorio and recitals only. Besides "Elijah" and the Bach Mass in B Minor and the St. Matthew Passion at this festival, he will also sing on Sunday a concert of jazz and Gershwin, Kern and Rogers ("Tribute to Frank Sinatra"). Isn't that enough? No, we said, with one voice. We want opera.
Well, OK, he said, I will do some but not too much. "Fidelio" (Don Fernando) in Salzburg during Simon Rattle's first season there in 2003, and Amfortas in a 2004 "Parsifal." Maybe more later, but not necessarily. The principal violist from the LA Opera sitting next to Quasthoff almost cried, asking him why not more "with that voice made for opera." Somebody, inevitably, asked about "Rigoletto." No. Does he think it would be some kind of exploitation of his handicap? No, "parts of the role are too high for my voice." In instant reaction to that came the word "bullshit," quietly but audibly from Justus Zeyen, Quasthoff's brilliant accompanist hovering over the scene at the height of 6'5" or thereabouts. Looks were exchanged, but clearly the debate has been repeated too many times. The same stubborness that brought Quasthoff from the likely fate of a cripple's life to fame, fortune, and adoration also acts against pressure of any kind. Even the otherwise overwhelming (and well justified) clamor of opera fans.