Search - Albert Lortzing, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner :: Evening Star: German Opera Arias

Supreme Mastery!

Rosomax | Boulder, CO United States | 02/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Once in a long while an artist comes along whose natural gift and mastery of the music is so enormous, that each one of their recordings is a revelation. This is the case with Thomas Quasthoff. Ever since I listened to his CD of Mozart arias, I am in complete awe of his talent, his virtuosity, and his absolutely gorgeous voice.
What we have on this CD is a combination of two talents of cosmic proportions. Quasthoff and conductor Christian Thielemann bring us some of the most fascinating music ever written with ardor and determination of discoverers. Of particular interest are arias by Albert Lortzing. What one might have dismissed as lighter works (Zar und Zimmermann) had anyone else performed it, is transformed into a sparkling and delightful set of arias, emphasizing the artists' keen sense of humor.
Luckily, most of us are familiar enough with Tannhauser, so we don't have to look at the handy translation booklet to appreciate the beauty of the "Evening Star". If you listen to the same aria sang by Bryn Terfel on his CD with James Levine, you'll have two very different and very beautiful renditions; Terfel's soulful, reflective, yet very much in charge, and Quasthoff's ethereal, mystical one.
What impressed me about this entire recital, is gentle, unobtrusive, yet very much imaginative support of Thielemann's orchestra here. There's a beautiful dialogue happening, particularly between the low strings and Quasthoff's surprisingly bright bass-baritone in "Gar viel und schon ward hier in dieser Halle".
It's difficult to convey even 1% of the music's beauty in a couple of paragraphs. Get it immediately and find out for yourself."

This is an Evening Star to shine on the landscape of the sou

Ingrid Heyn | Melbourne, Australia | 12/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There can be no doubt about the beautiful and beautifully sustained quality of Thomas Quasthoff's voice. It strikes one immediately with a cello-like smoothness. I first heard Herr Quasthoff singing Lieder, and knew instantly that he was a master, one of the few who is gifted not only with a voice but also with, thank God, musical intelligence.



When he applies that intelligence to arias, he gives an intimate and very effective lustre to the vocal line. Even with arias one has heard many times before, an immediacy comes through. I felt as though I were hearing the Weber and the Wagner for the first time - that same joy in the newness and wonder of such superb music alighted on me.



With the Lortzing, I feel the official review above is unfair. They were delightful to listen to, and Lortzing is sufficiently able as a composer to produce works of worth and originality. One may not - one does not - put him into the same rank as Beethoven, Weber, Wagner, etc. - but then we are speaking of giants of the Romantic period. Between genius and mere competence lies a HUGE field, and Lortzing is well into the plus side of that field. That Thomas Quasthoff sings the Lortzing arias magnificently, one takes for granted.



I am happy to place Quasthoff into the same category of "must-have" baritone/bass-baritone singers as Fischer-Dieskau, Olaf Bär, Bryn Terfel (although Terfel is not quite the word-painter that the others are), and so on. We are blessed at the moment with several extremely good male Lieder singers, and Quasthoff is most definitely one of them. I am busily searching for all of his recordings.



I found the album delightful, and thoroughly recommend it."