Everything Is Illuminated In The Light Of Thomas Quasthoff's Genius: Winterreise @ La Scala

We've been raised -- those of us who simply weren't born yet when Fritz and Tito and Maria and Renata were singing -- we've been raised with this sense that somehow the good days are gone forever, that we missed out on the really great stuff.

There's something to be said for that argument, even if those prickly generations of old school music fans, with their Marias and Titos and all that, they did miss out on the years when Verdi himself conducted his Requiem for the first time in a Milanese church, when Wagner (as in Richard, not his wretched descendants) was doing his thing and Von Bulow was conducting. And you can go back even farther down the rabbit hole of music history. And it eventually becomes silly.

Anyway, Opera Chic, tonight, realized that she may have missed on some seriously genius stuff because she wasn't even born. But tonight she has seen and heard Thomas Quasthoff sing Winterreise at la Scala, and she's not sure she'd trade this experience, as of now, for anything else. Whatever the golden age of classical music might be, it sure was present on la Scala's stage tonight, with all due respect to the great music of the past.

Not to mention, Maestro Quasthoff sang with Daniel Barenboim at the piano and a visibly moved Alfred Brendel in the audience (that's one of the coolest things about la Scala; Maurizio Pollini lives here in Milan so quite often you find yourself sitting a few rows away from the maestro, impeccably and meticulously dressed the way his music would make you think he dresses; Carlo Bergonzi used to show up a lot, too, to check out the new singers, see what the kids are up to, always generous with praise and encouragement and insights; tonight we did indeed get a most admirable visitor, Maestro Brendel, who might have missed his old line of work a little more than the usual).

Opera Chic is still too shaken by the wonders she has witnessed, so the full review is coming tomorrow.

Let her just add, as a sidenote, that one small gesture, at the end of the evening, made Opera Chic realize why we all forgive so much to that overworked, spread-out-too-thin, overconfident in his admittedly large genius, Daniel Barenboim -- and to his Napoleon-sized ego, quite obviously large even for classical music superstar standards. We forgive him so much not only because whenever he's properly rehearsed and really focused (the way he was tonight) he can play -- or conduct -- like very few (if any) of his contemporaries can -- his talent is that scorching.

We forgive him so much because of his generosity, because it's real -- because as Schubert's journey was over and the audience leapt up and cheered and raved and yelled and stomped their feet (eventually for something like 15 minutes) in a way you don't really see often at la Scala, Barenboim only emerged from deeper inside the stage once: he sweetly left the spotlight to Quasthoff, to let him enjoy his moment. Then he got near Quasthoff's tiny podium, smiled at him, bowed his head in sign of respect, and then simply caressed Quasthoff's cheek. Once, almost stealthily, with great tenderness. 

Comments

[Coloratura Tempura]

Aww... That makes me cry...

[Donna Anna]

Cara mia ben,

You are simply a wonder. Your writing is like a liederabend: you bring us into the event with immediacy and passion for what you hear. The tribute to Barbenboim's outsize genius is spot on, rendered with affection and admiration. (And your vitriol is equally effective, let there be no doubt). Nobody does it better.
I can only hope to hear Quasthoff live. Thanks to your blog, I get the next best thing. You so totally RAWK!

[Ian]

I can't wait for the full review. I'm so happy that you got to see a performance like that.

[Pippa in a Tree]

I saw this pair give the same program in 2005 at the Musikverein during my final semester of university in Vienna, to a similarly rare-in-it's-intensity reception. It was one of the most affecting performances I've ever had the good fortune to experience. Really it was almost as though I was hearing the piece for the first time. Certainly it surpassed anything I had heard either of them do, including Quasthoff's toe-curling appearance in Parsifal earlier that year at the Wiener Staatsoper (I don't much like Parsifal actually, but with Quasthoff I couldn't help enjoying it just a teensy bit). I wrote on the back of my program "one of those elusive performances which picks the world up in pieces and settles it back down again in familiar but never before seen patterns", and I am so glad these two are at it again. I'll keep the rest of my swooning over the memory to myself except to say no one should pass up the opportunity to see them offer this gift. OC, how great that you had the chance and are sharing it with all of us-looking forward to your full review!

[Willym]

And that last paragraph gave me the shivers - in a very good way.

[Francesca]

Oh Lord. I walked past La Scala earlier today and started to cry because I could not attend this recital. I was working. Upon reading your account of what a truly amazing night it was, I began to cry again. However, thank you for having gone, I await the full review.

[Grimgerde]

I had a very similar experience when Quasthoff sang "Urlicht" at the end of a concert with the Los Angeles Phil and Esa Pekka. Everything stood still and the silence at the end seemed to go on for ever. It was remarkable in every sense.

[vick]

Yes Ms OC that's the way it USED to be! I miss it, but this recital really lit me up inside.

[Sarah]

Opera Chic I'm listening to the same pair's Winterreise DVD while reading your blog. Sounds like the act still works :-)
Come on get on with that review!
I have tickets to hear TQ in every one of his Barbican "Die Stimme" series of concerts this year...because I first heard him sing in a small church in south Germany, 20 years ago, soon after he had won the ARD prize, and to be honest I have never quite got over it.

[Sarah]

Where's that review then?

[sidney orr]

I'm older, and heard Fischer-D in his prime - and he recorded superbly also, thansk goodness....FD was _most_ affecting and let the poetry speak so very directly to the listener.......

I'll follow TQ now on your recommendation...