On the March 10 broadcast by National Public Radio's local station, WNYC-FM, heard in the New York City tri-state area, Thomas Quasthoff's Winterreise was the evening's featured presentation. Both before and after the music, the announcer prominently mentioned Quasthoff's next-day Sunday afternoon recital at Lincoln Center. In fact, the announcer previewed the program in this Art of the Song presentation at Alice Tully Hall: Schubert's Schwanengesang; Five Lieder for Low Voice by Brahms, followed by the composer's Vier ernste Gesänge. The full-house Sunday turnout was not solely the result of the previous evening's announcement. Thomas Quasthoff is simply one of New York's favorite singers. For good reason. He is a consummate artist. With his marvelous vocal range, warmth, and dynamic power combined with peerless intelligence in interpreting text, audiences are always enthralled by his performances, myself included.
In a single song, Heine's Der Atlas, Quasthoff sings pp to fff with astonishing impact. Rellstab's Abschied is a six-stanza challenge of constantly changing tonality. There is no doubt as to Quasthoff's strength as a Schubert interpreter and to his admiration for Schubert's Lieder. However, because Schwanengesang is not a true song cycle but a combination of settings, of poems by Ludwig Rellstab and Heinrich Heine, the groupings have very different emotional centers. The Rellstab songs are very much a continuation of Die Schöne Müllerin. The Heine songs are less an extension of Winterreise, closer to that cycle emotionally though they may be, and more an excoriating account of loss and the rage it engenders. Heine is not a comfortable poet to read when he rages, and Schubert captured the roiling, tearing emotions of loss with equal abjectness. The singer must focus on that rage; Quasthoff does it.
In the Brahms songs Quasthoff seems to have found another simpatico composer, who provides the singer with a later Romantic identity beyond his already established Schubertian one. The Brahms was the second half of the program; the singer re-appeared on stage without his jacket and apologized saying that it wasn't because he was hoping for summer but that the stage was quite warm. Several times in the first half he wiped his face. After the intermission, the management turned on the ceiling ventilators and the audience quickly felt the cooling breeze. This seemed to make Quasthoff more comfortable in this part of the afternoon's recital. Before he began the Vier ernste Gesänge, he asked the audience, in the kindest way he could manage, to "hold the coughing until the concert is over". The coughing was quite bad, as it was during his Winterreise debut two years ago. It seems to be the odds given for performing in New York City in the winter season. This audience honored the singer's request.
Quasthoff seemed tired at the end, possibly the result of the very warm first half on stage as well as the demands of the program. Yet he gave three encores to cheer up his audience after those "four last songs". His Erlkönig was thrilling. It was unexpected; the whole audience gasped in delight as Justus Zeyen started to play the pulsing opening chords. The final encore was his new standby - "I Did It My Way" - made famous by Frank Sinatra but sung feelingly by Quasthoff in his own pop style. I for one could do without the pop renditions; I would prefer to hear Quasthoff sing jazz as he did in his very early years in Germany, before he established himself as we know him today. Having mentioned Justus Zeyen, I would add that Quasthoff has been fortunate to also have Charles Spencer as his accompanist, as he was with Winterreise, on CDs and on tour.
At the recital's end Quasthoff got a standing ovation -- I almost wrote "the usual standing ovation" because that has been my experience as it has been of so many other audiences, all over the world. To Thomas Quasthoff from Manhattan: Ich bin dein und du bist mein.
Copyright © 2001 Janet I. Wasserman (12-3-2001)
I know some people (like three??) might think that the following review is something of a mad rant and rave, but after 50 years of listening to voices, I have not the slightest hesitation about calling Thomas Quasthoff a "Supreme Vocal God!"
The man possesses one of the most gorgeous natural voices I have ever heard, and one might say that he could be "three or four great singers" rolled into one, because his low notes sound like a true basso cantante, and in the middle range in full glory (as in Der Atlas, since he performed the entire Schwanengesang Cycle) he could sound like a Verdi baritone and in other sections the breathtaking pianissimi could be "part of someone else," The man sings a seamless legato line and every breath that issues from his throat is totally audible,focused and of a quality that made me shake my head in total awe.
I have never taken enough time to explore the wonderful world of lieder, but this man could make me a true "fan," since he communicates so beautifully, and I do not believe I ever heard any voice imbued with as many vocal colors, like a painter's pallette with so many hues, and never for one instant does one not feel totally enraptured in this truly great man's contribution to the vocal art.
Quasthoff's body "sings along" with the music; you know he adores it so, and even admonished (nicely) the audience before the Vier ernste Gesänge of Brahms, telling us how much he loves these songs and would we please try to refrain from coughing, even between the numbers; unlike the Met audiences, they all listened !
When people applauded as he announced the first encore would be An die Musik, he said something like, "Wait until you hear it... you don't know what you're getting yet" and as he spied someone starting to leave, he entreated her not to go, to our general amusement.
For his final encore, he treated us to a rendition of Paul Anka's My Way that made one think he was one of the leading pop vocalists of the century ! (The last century), and how could my eyes not fill with tears as I thought of what this man means to countless thousands, millions, of so-called "handicapped" individuals who can look to him for courage and inspiration. That voice rolled out of him in such a way that I knew he would be a great success in leading roles at the Met... and I am not speaking of any character parts either... he will be doing Amfortas and Don Fernando soon, and we should try to prevail on the powers that be at the Met to hire him as soon as possible... but I am not holding my breath.
There is a line in the film "Amadeus" where the Salieri character, referring to Mozart, exclaims that "God speaks to this man!" This is what I felt about Mr. Thomas Quasthoff, possibly the greatest singer I have heard in many, many years.
Sorry, fans of the "other dude"... I would call him the "Anti-DFD!"
Charles Handelman (12-3-2001)
I also had the pleasure of hearing Thomas Quasthoff this afternoon and was very impressed with his voice and selections (except one encore). I heard him a few months ago in Das Deutsche Requiem and wanted to hear more. The voice is seemless from top to bottom and his chest and low bass notes are spectacular. It was wonderful to hear Abschied with its light tone and happiness and then hear the low notes and tragedy of Der Atlas. After which we have the lightness again in Ihr Bild. The first half was one hour and I enjoyed every song in the cycle (Schwanengesang).
After a brief intermission we heard Brahms: Mit vierzig Jahren, Steig auf, geliebter Schatten, Mein Herz ist schwer, Sapphische Ode, Kein Haus, keine Heimat. Then Vier Ernste Gesänge. My favorite of the first five was Sapphische Ode. After the first words Rosen brach ich nachts mir am dunklen Hage, which was sung in a hushed sort of way with his beautiful legato line I thought that this cannot be sung better today. Quasthoff has the knowledge about all the songs and what they are about (wish some of the ladies I heard recently in recitals had this sense of knowledge of the music and words). But perhaps it is something that either you are born with or you cannot learn. I think this is especially true for German Lieder. As much as I like Fleming and Eaglen in other things they have not a clue what German poetry and Lieder are about. It is not there fault for not having been brought up with the language and culture like Quasthoff and other native German speakers. But it is that the most beautiful Lieder were written to poems by Goethe, Rilke, Heine and Von Eichendorff etc. The words are as important as the music and perhaps even more important. After the audience was coughing up a storm Quasthoff made an announcement that the next group of songs meant so much to him and he asked if perhaps they could wait until after the cycle. It was quieter then and the finished the cycle beautifully.
For encores he choose An die Musik, Erlkönig and a version of He did it my way. I do not know how someone of the caliber of Quasthoff could have choosen this piece since I found it not suited at all. There are so many Schubert songs (or Brahms songs for that matter) that he could have picked. He is a truely great artist and needn't stoop to those levels.
Marco Schmid (12-3-2001)