by Joan Abel
Last Friday night was the long-awaited Bach evening with Thomas Quasthoff and the Los Angeles Chamber players conducted by Jeffrey Kahane. It began with Haydn's Symphony No.102, an entertaining work well played, and ended with Ginastera's Variaciones Concertantes. This was also entertaining, a change for solo players to show off, reminiscent of Britten's "Young Person's Guide" but more playful and less formal.
In between was best: before intermission, Bach's Cantata BWV 82, "Ich habe genug," and after intermission BWV 56, "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen." Each is technically difficult, but Quasthoff was born to sing Bach and made the runs, trills, long vocal lines, and razzle dazzle all sound easy. He was so comfortable technically that he had the luxury of interpretation. His diction was crystal clear, and the words as well as Bach's music, were simply sung, straight to the heart and soul. This was a human being longing for heaven, and the cantatas were as a bridge between the two. The longing was patient, the anticipation joyous. So was the audience's reaction with standing ovations all over the place. Before bowing to the audience, our Quasthoff toured around the musicians, hugging and congratulating each one, especially the solo oboist, Allan Vogel, and the conductor whose direction was enthusiastic throughout.
Quasthoff announced this was the last concert in his Los Angeles series and gave us the encore of a jazzed-up "Ol' Man River," which struck me almost as a cantata for our time - "Show me dat stream called da River Jordan..." same theme, just updated, same stunning and heartfelt singing. Even more intense reception from the audience.
The program invited anyone with a Quasthoff CD (and only CDs - available in the gift shop) to come and have it autographed by our great singer. There was quite a throng. I brought along my anthology of Bach cantatas and asked him to bend the rules a little and sign my book. He was delighted. Looking at the title page, though, he refused to sign above Bach's name. No problem, the inside cover was blank and awaiting his pleasure. I said I wish Bach could have been here tonight. "He was," replied the man who should know best. What an evening!
by Janet Wasserman
First, a frank admission: I know very little Bach. I've heard a lot of Quasthoff. And, I grew up hearing Old Man River (tonight's encore) as sung by the American bass-baritone, Paul Robeson, who was exclusively identified in American minds with this Jerome Kern song from the Broadway musical Showboat. I realize that TQ has a long association with Bach here in the USA, at the Bach Festival in Eugene, Oregon. Tonight was my first live hearing of Quasthoff singing Bach. It was less a revelation and more a re-affirmation of Quasthoff's superb musicianship, vocal authority, artistic sensitivity, and stage presence. I listened attentively to Quasthoff. With BWV 82 Ich habe genug, and BWV 56 Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, Quasthoff's Bach is for me a necessary and sufficient lesson in how to sing a Baroque church cantata and mesmerize an audience.
Tonight's audience was somewhat different from past audiences at Quasthoff concerts. There were several children of about nine to eleven years in age around me, in the Parquet (a fancy Carnegie Hall term for orchestra seats.) A few kids dozed but then so did the adult sitting next to me. Also, there were many more young adults than I am used to seeing when Quasthoff sings, for example at his Lieder recitals. The other remarkable thing is that for many grownup attendees tonight, this was their first time hearing and seeing Thomas Quasthoff.
I had a fascinating intermission chat with three Carnegie Hall subscribers who were in amazement at Quasthoff's physical appearance. They did not know of him or of his vocal reputation, and they were not prepared from his headshots to recognize him when he entered the stage from the wings. It took a few minutes for them to realize who and what this singing phenomenon was. They each said in turn that after a few minutes his voice took over and they were enchanted. One woman said immediately that he had a marvelous personality that came through at once. "Charisma?," I inquired. She smiled and said an emphatic 'yes'. Needless to say, Quasthoff received standing ovations, after his second Bach cantata and after his encore when the whole house really went wild. Old Man River is, let's face it, a bass-baritone's show-off piece. Robeson's deep bass had what sounded like a subway rumble; Quasthoff has a smooth and gliding tug boat bass.