Thomas Quasthoff
(born November 9, 1959) is a German bass-baritone generally regarded as one of the finest singers of his generation. Although his reputation was initially based on his performance of Romantic lieder, Quasthoff has proven to have a remarkable range from the Baroque cantatas of Bach to solo jazz improvisations.
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THOMAS QUASTHOFF TICKETS
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Biography
Quasthoff was born in
Hildesheim,
Germany, with serious
birth defects caused by his mother's exposure during pregnancy to the drug
thalidomide which was prescribed as an
antiemetic to combat her
morning sickness. Thomas Quasthoff is unusually short (about four feet tall) due to shortening of the long bones in his legs, and he has
phocomelia of the upper extremities with very short or absent long bones and flipper-like appearance of his hands.
Quasthoff was denied admission to the music
conservatory in
Hanover, Germany, owing to his physical inability to play the piano, then a requirement for entry to the conservatory. He chose to study voice privately. He also studied law for three years.
[1] Prior to his music career, he worked six years as a radio announcer for
NDR. He also did voice-over work for television.
[2]
His music career was launched in 1988 when he won
ARD International Music Competition in
Munich, earning praise from the
baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. In 1995, he made his American debut at the
Oregon Bach Festival at the invitation of artistic director
Helmuth Rilling; in 1998, he was one of the soloists for the Bach Festival's world-premiere of
Krzyztof Penderecki's
Credo
, the recording of which won a
Grammy Award for best choral recording. In 2003, he made his staged operatic debut as Don Fernando in
Beethoven's
Fidelio
at the
Salzburg Festival. conducted by Simon Rattle. His
San Francisco Symphony debut took place September 2004.
Thomas Quasthoff won the
Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance in 2000. It was for his performance together with the mezzo-soprano
Anne Sofie von Otter of
Mahler’s
Des Knaben Wunderhorn. They were accompanied by the
Berlin Philharmonic conducted by
Claudio Abbado. He won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance for the second time in 2004. It was for
Schubert: Lieder with Orchestra
which Quasthoff performed with von Otter and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Abbado. Quasthoff won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance for the third time in 2006 with Rainer Kussmaul leading members of the RIAS Chamber Choir of Berlin Baroque Soloists in their recording of
J. S. Bach: Cantatas
.
Additionally, Quasthoff's recordings of the songs of
Brahms,
Liszt and
Schubert accompanied by pianist
Justus Zeyen were nominated for the Grammy in 2000 and 2001. Thomas Quasthoff records for
Deutsche Grammophon.
Quasthoff is a full-time voice professor and performs only about 50 times a year. He is currently a professor at the
Hanns Eisler School of Music in
Berlin; he previously taught at the music academy of
Detmold, Germany.
For the 2006-2007 concert season, Quasthoff was one of
Carnegie Hall's "Perspectives" artists.
[3] However, illness forced him to cancel his first two appearances in that capacity.
[4]
In 2006 he recorded his first jazz album,
The Jazz Album: Watch What Happens
, with
Till Brönner,
Alan Broadbent,
Peter Erskine,
Dieter Ilg and
Chuck Loeb. In the same year he married Claudia Schtelsick, a German TV journalist.
In 2008, he was a soloist on the Grammy-winning recording of Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem (Simon Rattle, conductor; Simon Halsey, chorus master) on EMI Classics.
As "artist in residence" at the Barbican Hall, London, Quasthoff invited some of his favourite fellow artists in a series under the title "Die Stimme" - The Voice (also the name of his autobiography) which marks his 50th birthday year. He was the "
Desert Island Discs" guest (BBC Radio 4) on 1 February 2009 (repeated 6 February 2009).
References
- Stephen Moss, 'I'm lucky. Everyone can see my disability'. ''The Guardian'', 20 October 2000.
- Peter Conrad, "More, much more than this...". ''The Observer'', 7 April 2002.
- Jay Nordlinger, "Scatting & Growling His Way Through". ''New York Sun'', 9 March 2007.
- Allan Kozinn, "Put Me Out There, Coach. I’m Ready to Sing." ''New York Times'', 7 March 2007.