Thomas Quasthoff, bass-baritone ("Song to the evening star," Wagner's Tannhauser)

A very nice recording by a very nice voice- sad story. Enjoy. Recorded from radio.

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.
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.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• thomas
• quasthoff
• wagner
• tannhauser
• bass
• baritone
• song
• to
• the
• evening
• star

[Paschalboy]

What a beautiful voice.  Found this song via the Reed Organ, and his voice is sublime. As one writer put it, when he sings, a sin in the world is erased. What a triumph in life this man has done.

[ShawDAMAN]

@Paschalboy :)

[stevevandien]

What is sad about TQ's story? A man is born with significant physical limitations. Yet he becomes one of the finest classical baritones of his generation.  What a magnificent triumph of courage and determination over adversity. God bless Quasthoff! (I should disclose this: TQ and I share a birthday -- we each entered this world on November 9, 1959:). But I admired him long before learning that we had this (at least!) in common ---

[ShawDAMAN]

@stevevandien I understand that way of looking at it and it is great to be positive ;) but any time a mother's child is born with serious defects particularly under those circumstances, I think it is a sad situation. Certainly you can still lead a happy and successful life and evidently he is :)

[johan52312]

hat er die schönste Stimme, die ich je gehört habe? Unglaublich, diese Schönheit!

[ShawDAMAN]

Ich bin damit einverstanden, schöne Stimme, und meine Lieblings-Version dieser Arie.

[silencesings]

The most beautiful voice of the earth is his. Supernatural. Unbelievable. Etc :) He deserved at least this talent and voice from God...

[pucciniverdi777]

@ShawDAMAN Ed Bradley asked TQ on 60 Minutes if he had the chance to be of normal stature but without his beautiful voice or to be the way he is, with his voice intact. TQ interrupted before Bradley even fiished his sentence and said, "I'd stay the way I am." This man clearly loves to sing. Just look at the joy on his face when he is singing. I don't think of hiis story as sad at all. And what an exquisite voice he has!

[lornabegbie]

What an utterly beautiful and moving voice - not of this world, for sure.

[ghostofdayinperson]

@jmaines88 THANK YOU

[BrianDonaldMcKay]

@silencesings A bit over the top! LOL

[lamsalgado]

How beautifuLLLLLLLLL ! Tom is wonderful in every sense, a gift for us all! A moving example of life, from childhood hardship to the most sublime in music, as he dream't...

Now he is a dream for us...

Bravooooooooo Maestro Quasthoff!

[DerIngo62]

Ein Beweis dafür , das die Chemie nicht alles zerstören kann.....danke für deine Stimme