Quasthoff simply wonderful

By David Stabler
From The Oregonian

EUGENE -- A captivating concert by German baritone Thomas Quasthoff capped one of the most ambitious weekends in the 32-year history of the Oregon Bach Festival.

The night after Tan Dun's ritualistic "Water Passion" shook Silva Hall, Quasthoff mesmerized listeners with the quiet subtleties of Franz Schubert's songs in Beall Hall on the University of Oregon campus. Nothing illustrated the scope of the Oregon Bach Festival better than those back-to-back concerts, Friday and Saturday.

Where Tan effectively used lighting, electronics and a theatrical approach to view Christ's passion story with a fresh sensibility, Quasthoff relied on his own singular resources and those of his accompanist, Jeffrey Kahane.

Such is Quasthoff's gift that his concerts quickly sell out. To accommodate the overflow Saturday, several dozen people sat on temporary stage chairs. Quasthoff's program included Schubert's "Schwanengesang" ("Swan Song") and songs by Hugo Wolf and Richard Strauss.

Kahane turned in a heroic performance with only 36 hours' notice, after Justus Zeyen, Quasthoff's longtime accompanist, broke his knee on Thursday. Either Kahane is an extraordinary sight reader or he had played the music recently, because he gave an assured performance with nary a note out of place.

Simplicity was the order of the night. Many Schubert songs require the illusion of effortlessness, and Quasthoff treated these with flowing phrases and fresh-sounding tone. Even so, he communicated the hidden pain behind the lyrical radiance of "Standchen," perhaps Schubert's best-known love song.

But "Schwanengesang," which is Schubert's last set of 14 songs, also contains two Herculean works, "Der Atlas" and "Der Doppelganger," that present enormous vocal and emotional challenges to the singer.

Violent tremors in the piano create a shuddering effect in "Der Atlas," a song about a heartbroken man who feels as if he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Quasthoff's voice turned steely, as Kahane shook trembling octaves from his sleeves.

"Der Doppleganger" portrays two sides of a man standing stricken in front of the house where his beloved once lived. Agony and horror shout from the piano in a series of powerfully struck chords on the piano, while the voice moves relentlessly toward a searing climax.

Quasthoff gave a full-throated performance, holding little back in condemnation of a life wasted in hopeless love. His sound varied widely, showing technical mastery of phrasing, breath control and an almost violent release of consonants. Kahane kept iron control of the pace.

The final song, "Die Taubenpost" ("The Pigeon Post"), is a blissful ditty by comparison, and both performers recovered themselves from the previous song's traumas with a winning gentility. All went well in the Wolf and Strauss songs, including a memorably sustained performance of "Morgen" ("Morning").

Kahane's performance really was remarkable given such short notice, but the loss of Zeyen was large. Kahane was an intuitive accompanist, making myriad rhythmic adjustments to support Quasthoff, but at times he favored too light a touch.

Notes that needed color and character didn't speak fully. Where Quasthoff revealed pain behind the mellifluous-sounding "Standchen," the piano tone remained too light and airy.

You can reach David Stabler at 503-221-8217 or by e-mail at davidstabler@news.oregonian.com