Thomas Quasthoff: An Artist Without Limits

When Thomas Quasthoff walks on stage his appearance is distinct, his impediments are obvious. He stands 4'3", his legs are short, his arms barely extend past his ribs and he has only seven fingers. The instant he begins to sing his generous and soaring bass-baritone voice defines a man with no limits.

He is one of the most remarkable and sought after singers of his generation. His professional resume includes collaborations with the world's most renowned orchestras and conductors including Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle and Seiji Ozawa.

Mr. Quasthoff has performed with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He performs regularly in prestigious venues and festivals in Vienna, Berlin, Amsterdam, Munich, London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Salzburg and Edinburgh.

In the USA, he has performed with the Symphony Orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and New York on stages such as Tanglewood and Carnegie Hall.

Thomas Quasthoff won his first Grammy in 2000 and has since captured two more, all for Best Classical Vocal Performance.

His career is marked by the kind of success that most singers dream about. It is the result of natural ability refined through decades of study and practice. Although, he is quick to argue differently, his story is also about overcoming adversity.

Like many German woman in the 1950s and 1960s, Thomas Quasthoff's mother was prescribed thalidomide as a sedative during her pregnancy. The drug was deemed harmless until tens of thousands of children were born with severe malformities.

He refuses to be categorized as disabled, asking instead "Can you imagine that I feel, as an artist, reduced by questions about my disability?"

But the challenges he faced as a person, and as a musician, tend to evoke inspiration.

During infancy, Thomas Quasthoff underwent excruciating surgical adjustments to his limbs. Then the prospect of education became another struggle. German schools were ill-prepared to educate the thousands of thalidomide babies in the 1960s.

Mr. Quasthoff was sent to a school for children with cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that affects cognition and communication. It was soon apparent that the school was failing Thomas Quasthoff's intellectual abilities.

He had developed a desire to study music but was turned away from conservatories because he was unable to play the piano. Mr. Quasthoff concedes that the decision was legally correct, although it raised moral questions. (The same conservatory has since offered him positions as a music instructor, which he accepted playing the piano in his teaching.)

When he was rejected from the music school, his parents sent him to private instruction with Charlotte Lehmann, a concert singer in Hannover. Mr. Quasthoff studied with Lehmann for seventeen years and credits her for his impressive technical proficiency.

The discouraging start of his music studies left him feeling twice punished at the time. In retrospect, Mr. Quasthoff says private study afforded him the opportunity to delve deeper into music, void of the distractions at music college. He says, "I had vocal lessons nearly every day; normally it is one and a half hours a week. Now I think it was a good thing, but at that time it was hard for me."

Mr. Quasthoff's dedicated training paid off when in 1988 he won the ARD international music prize in Munich over 315 participants. Of his first big critical acclaim, he wondered if the jury had awarded out of pity but the jury chief made it clear that was not the case. He said "You can be absolutely sure you didn't win the competition because of your disability. If you hadn't earned it, that would be a much bigger problem for you. It would have been cruel to raise hopes and expectations that could not later be fulfilled."

That was nearly two decades ago and Thomas Quasthoff's success has buried any questions of merit. The sensation that draws audiences is in his unparalleled talent, not his form.

He has gained critical acclaim including the Shostakovich Prize, the Hamada Trust / Scotsman Festival Prize, the DIASPASON D'OR and the ECHO prize. He has had an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon since 1999. He is also a respected, and tenured, professor in the vocal department of the Music Academy in Detmold, Germany, balancing a vigorous teaching schedule with 50 performances per year.

The unimaginable hardship of Thomas Quasthoff's early life is repeatedly played down by the singer, through words and actions. He continually finds opportunity where others would succumb to disadvantage.

Of his limited movement on stage he says "I am in the good position of not being able to make gestures with my hands, so my voice is the only form of expression that I have. This forces a huge concentration on the part of the audience. If you remain still and have only the face and the voice, the audience has to concentrate, much more so than for those who use gestures. So maybe it is also an opportunity."

Mr. Quasthoff's general attitude towards his physical impediments is matter of fact. "For me, my disability is a fact and not a problem. I'm not living the life of a disabled person," he says. "I regard myself as so privileged, in spite of my handicap, that I simply have absolutely no grounds for complaining."

His extraordinary career is a journey of transcendence earned with a triumphant will. At a glance he is a large voice contrasted by a small frame. The overwhelming expression exuded through his art reveals where talent lives and obstacles dissolve.