by Erik Voermans
The German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff can be counted among the very best Lieder art has to offer. But opera is very alluring. Far off, even a Wotan might be beckoning. But Lied lovers need not worry: 'I have no intention becoming an opera singer pur sang.'
Everyone who has ever heard him sing Schubert, Brahms, Schumann or even the part of Méphistophélès in Berlioz' Damnation de Faust, wil concur: Thomas Quasthoff is this era's bass-baritone. With his incredibly beautiful and emotional voice, his exemplary, sober, intelligent delivery of the text, which serves only the music, his unique diction and his remarkable feeling for colouring, Quasthoff is as a singer one in a million.
When the reporter tells him all of this at the beginning of the interview, booming laughter is his part: "See, that is what I call a perfect way to start a conversation !"
On Saturday, accompanied by pianist Charles Spencer, he will sing Lieder by Loewe, Liszt, Ravel and Debussy at the Concertgebouw, and he is looking forward to it. Because "it is simply impossible to sing badly" in the Grote Zaal. Not that he would call himself a Schönsinger. "I can sing very beautifully", he says grinning broadly, "but that is not my primary goal. For me, a recital is not just a two-hour beauty contest. Sometimes it can be necessary to emit growling sounds, if so demanded by the text."
And furthermore: he not only wants to surprise his audience, but also himself. He never knows in advance what he will do exactly at such a recital. "It all depends on the hall and on the audience. I am a very intuitively spontaneous artist. Not two of my Lieder evenings are alike, not even when singing the exact same programme. Never ! But I do know some very famous fellow singers for whom this is not the case, but that does not really interest me. I think that spells death for music. I want to be able to act upon spontaneous ideas: more rubato with certain words, varying colouring and tempo, because you do not feel the same every night, and so on. The sky is the limit."
Because of this, he prefers to work with pianists able to follow his escapades. Andras Schiff, Daniel Barenboim, Wolfgang Riegger and his permanent accompanist Justus Zeyen, with whom, among many others, he made a touching recording of Brahms' Vier ernste Gesänge. The key question to put to Thomas Quasthoff, the self-declared artist of moods, could be how emotion and technique of singing relate to each other within his performances. His answer surprises: he has never thought about it. "My educator, Charlotte Lehmann, always emphasized technique heavily. That was the foundation to start from. Emotion is what follows from that. Whenever I am studying a new Lied, I do not think about the emotions I want to express. But I do think about the colours I can use. Apart from that, there seems to be a certain something to my voice that allows me to touch people, and someting like that, either you've got it or you don't. You can not learn that."
Quasthoff agrees with the idea that there are Lieder he'd better avoid when in a certain state of mind. Schubert's Ihr Bild is a real minefield for singers with heartache. But when experiencing real sorrow, you can not sing in any case. "I actually experienced that. I have lived with a woman for close to seven years, and when she left me I was so depressed that for the first time in my life I had to cancel a Lieder evening. I could no longer sing. For the duration of a month, I did not even feel the urge to express myself musically. It was all too bad for that. Should my parents ever die, that also would touch me so very deeply, but because they have always supported me, I shall, I think, really need to continue singing."
Fear of tears on stage ? "At an early age, I learned to control my tears. Furthermore, as an artist you dispose of a professional detachment. But should I feel that a Lied would touch me so profoundly that it would effect my singing, I would cancel the concert. That is where I clearly draw the line. In any case, the profession of singer is already by nature exhibitionistic."
He would never like to be as famous as Jessey Norman, 'who can not move a muscle without publicity'. "An absolute nightmare ! Absolut grauenhaft !" Laughing: "Luckily, I am in no danger. I am a baritone and not a tenor."
Then a outpouring: "When I was seven years old, a friend of mine died right next to me in a room with fifteen handicapped children. He said 'Good morning', and he was dead. Whenever I sing O Tod, wie bitter bist du or O Tod, wie wohl tutst du from Brahms' Ernste Gesänge that undeniably has a connection to my private life. But the audience does not need to know that."
"If it makes me sing the Lieder more intensely, then it is fantastic, but I refuse to consciously use those emotions as stylistic device, as an effect. I know singers who do do that. I can not lie on stage. I try to make music in a honest way. I am very demanding. Among my colleagues, I am known for being critical. Oh well, what can I do about it. No matter how famous they might be, if I do not like it, I let it show. But I always have respect for them. I know how hard I myself have had to work to reach this level, so every one who has success, be it Thomas Hampson, Matthias Goerne or Olaf Bär, has deserved it."
Quasthoff, by now a celebrated Lieder singer, will start a new chapter in the nearby future, opera is calling.
Quasthoff: "Yes, very clearly even. Next year I will sing the part of Don Fernando from Fidelio in Salzburg with Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharminiker, and in 2004 the part of Amfortas from Parsifal in Vienna, also at the request of Rattle. I myself had my doubts, but he has talked me out of it. Mind you, I do not aspire becoming an opera singer. I only want to get to know that side of the profession. Whatever happens next, I shall see."
Might there be a Wotan beckoning on the horizon ? "Sooner as a recording than on stage", says Quasthoff. "Maybe within four or five years' time. But I shall not force anything, because I still want to be singing when I am sixty."
Het Parool - 1 March 2002
original title: "Thomas Quasthoff wil geen Schönsinger zijn"
translation by Jocy Briessinck