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RECITAL REVIEW
A Poignant Voice March 14, 2002
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By Anna Carol Dudley
Thomas Quasthoff finally came to San Francisco, Thursday night in Herbst
Theatre, thanks to San Francisco Performances. I went to hear him, secure
in my expectation that he would be the ideal vessel out of which would pour
Brahms' stunning "Vier Ernste Gesänge," and I was not disappointed.
The Biblical texts of these "Four Serious Songs," profound meditations on
what life and death should be and what they are, have fresh relevance in
our current troubled times. Brahms gave them probing and beautiful
settings, and Quasthoff brought to them a beautiful voice and a noble
eloquence.
All is vanity. We are biological beings who will end in dust, so we should
do what we can with this life. The existence of evil and oppression make
one envy the dead. Death is bitter to the young and prosperous, but
welcome to the old and failing. These are gripping themes, and were
powerfully sounded by Quasthoff. The last of the four songs is set to the
famous verses from Corinthians on the overriding importance of love in our
human dealings. Quasthoff started each section (utterance, knowledge,
faith, altruism) with a more scolding tone than I hear in it, but he came
out with a resounding, moving affirmation, making a welcome finale to this
group and to the whole recital.
These songs were the powerful closing group in a program mainly sounding
themes of mortality, separation and unfulfilled longing — a program which
demanded much of the listener but in this performance offered many rewards.
The recital's first half was devoted to Schubert's "Schwanengesang," a collection of fourteen of his last songs. Singing them in the order in which they were originally published, Quasthoff made a strong case for that order, with its subtle connections and contrasts. The sweet opening love song, "Liebesbotschaft" ("Love-message"), sung with effortless grace and warmth, gives way next to the striking dramatic contrasts of "Kriegers Ahnung" ("Solder's foreboding"). Immediately we hear the extremes of Quasthoff's vocal and expressive range, from the low bass money notes to the high lyric passages, from biting German consonants to a gorgeous legato, from soft to loud and back again. His expressive face and his superb command of an extraordinary bass-baritone instrument underline the meaning and the beauty of each song. He can mesmerize with a crescendo-diminuendo-crescendo on one note ("In der Ferne"), a lift of the head in response to a dance rhythm ("Abschied"), a straight eerie tone ("Die Stadt"), a warm winning tone ("Das Fischermädchen"). And he is matched by his accompanist, Justus Zeyen. Together, they are one voice. It was a treat to hear the piano sing in songs like "Ständchen" and "Das Fischermädchen," and to hear "Die Stadt" and "Der Doppelgänger" emerge out of almost nothing under Zeyen's hands.
The singer had a score on the stand in front of him, and I started out finding it no impediment, since he was very much in command of the songs and referred to it only occasionally. But it turned out that he was dependent on it for several songs, including especially the last of the Schubert; and when the score and stand were discarded for the last Brahms group, the effect was telling. The second half of the program was devoted to Brahms. Before the "Four Serious Songs" came five songs, opus 94. I suppose they were chosen to adhere to the overall theme of loss, longing, separation and bitterness, but mostly they are not Brahms at his best. "Mit vierzig Jahren" ("At forty"), to a poem by Rückert (also not at his best), is a tiresome view of middle age ending in a mixed metaphor — the weary traveler through life climbs through mountains and finally arrives in port. A couple of ensuing songs are drenched in self-pity, and "Kein Haus, keine Heimat" ("No house, no home"), sung only too well, is cynical and bitter. The one beauty in this desolation is "Sapphische Ode," and here I thought the interpretation was slightly fussy. Where elsewhere I liked many little nuances of phrasing, in this song I just wanted to hear those lovely long phrases rise and fall of their own accord. Perhaps the "Four Serious Songs" would make an even greater impact if introduced by a group of songs in a more life-affirming vein. Quasthoff enjoys talking to his audience, and does it charmingly. I wondered what, if anything, he might do as an encore after the "Four Serious Songs." Not only was the mood exalted, it was broken too soon by applause, which must have been annoying to him. He simply came out and acknowledged that encores seldom fit, especially after the serious Brahms songs, and launched into Schubert's "Heidenröslein," making the most of every thornprick. Then he sang a bluesy "Swing low, sweet chariot" (more money notes, way down there) which in fact was a good segue to the Brahms (and made me long for "Deep River"). And after some banter with the audience, he tossed out Schubert's ill-fated "Trout" and departed. (Anna Carol Dudley is a singer, teacher, member of the faculties of the University of California, Berkeley, and San Francisco StateUniversity [lecturer emerita] and director of the San Francisco Early Music Society's Baroque Music Workshop.) ©2002 Anna Carol Dudley, all rights reserved |
