Thomas Quasthoff was born in Hildesheim, Germany in 1959 and began his musical studies in Hanover in 1972. Heralded as “one of the great singers of our time and certainly one of the most remarkable of any time” (Los Angeles Times), his debut in 1995 at the Oregon Bach Festival laid the basis for his highly successful career in the USA, and he has worked with the world’s most renowned orchestras and conductors at all the prestigious houses and festivals. His recordings as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist have earned a long and growing list of international awards and prizes including three Grammys®, the Echo Award, BBC Music Magazine Award, Amadeus Music Award and Orphée d’or. Quasthoff held a professorship at the Music Academy in Detmold from 1996–2004; from 2004 until today he holds a professorship at Berlin’s Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik. In 2004 he received Hildesheim’s Ring of Honour; in 2005 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Germany; in 2006 he received the European Culture Prize for Music at the Dresden Frauenkirche; and in 2009, the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize as an exceptional artist who “captures the hearts of his audience in virtually all of his performances”.
1998 – Appearances during the 1998/99 season include his New York recital debut, Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the New York Philharmonic, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Boston Symphony, Brahms’s German Requiem with the Chicago Symphony, Mozart arias with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust with the Concertgebouw Orchestra
1999 – Signs exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon; first release: Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall in January singing Schubert’s Winterreise as well as at the Ravinia, Tanglewood and Mostly Mozart festivals; Britten’s War Requiem at Carnegie Hall, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under Sir Simon Rattle with both the Wiener Philharmoniker and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Brahms’s Requiem with the London Philharmonic
2000 – Releases include lieder by Brahms and Liszt and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (with Abbado and the Berliner Philharmoniker)
2001 – Performs and records German Romantic arias with Christian Thielemann and the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper; Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder under Rattle in Berlin and Mahler’s Wunderhorn under Abbado at Carnegie Hall. Release of Schubert’s Schwanengesang and Brahms’s Four Serious Songs
2002 – Schumann’s Faust and Bach’s St. John Passion, both with the Berliner Philharmoniker;Mahler song cycles in London;Bach cantatas in the US and Salzburg; Mahler’s Wunderhorn at the Hollywood Bowl
2003 – Highly acclaimed opera debut in Beethoven’s Fidelio (Don Fernando) with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Rattle in Berlin and Salzburg; Mahler’s Wayfarer songs with the Wiener Philharmoniker under Boulez. Released this year: Schubert songs orchestrated by famous composers
2004 – Vienna State Opera debut (Amfortas in Parsifal) and first Salzburg Festival lieder recital; Martin’s Jedermann Monologues with Abbado and the Berliner Philharmoniker; Mozart arias with the New York Philharmonic and Muti; Haydn’s Creation under Maazel;Mahler at the Verbier Festival; tour of Europe with Schubert’s Winterreise. Release of A Romantic Songbook and Bach cantatas
2005 – Parsifal in Vienna under Rattle; Bach’s B minor Mass with Zurich Opera and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Wiener Philharmoniker; Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 14with Rattle; Bach cantatas on tour in Germany and Austria. Audio releases: Mahler song cycles with Boulez and the Wiener Philharmoniker, and Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin (with Zeyen); on DVD: Schubert’s Winterreise (with Barenboim)
2006 – Bach’s St. John Passion and Brahms’s Requiem with Rattle, orchestral songs by Pfitzner with Thielemann and Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder under Barenboim. Recitals at Carnegie Hall, the Lucerne Festival, the Schubertiade; Beethoven’s Ninth at Verbier. Receives Il Canto del mondo’s Culture Award and a Grammy® as “Singer of the Year”. Releases: Betrachte, meine Seel – sacred arias by Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn, and The Mozart Album – arias and duets with DG’s star singers
2007 – Haydn’s Creation, Mozart’s Requiem, Mahler song cycles, Bach cantatas and Handel arias with leading European orchestras and conductors. Recitals of Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch and lieder cycles by Schumann, Schubert, Mahler and Brahms. Highly acclaimed jazz concerts in New York’s Carnegie Hall and Europe as well as a bestselling jazz album Watch What Happens. A further recording of Bach cantatas with Dorothea Röschmann and the Berlin Baroque Soloists finds great critical acclaim
2008 – Appearances include the Creation in Salzburg and Stockholm; Schubert with Levine in the US, and with the Concertgebouw under Jansons in Amsterdam, Vienna and Lucerne; Elijah in Germany and Vienna; Verdi’s Requiem with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Muti; Mahlerwith the Staatskapelle Berlin and Barenboim; New Year’s Eve Gala in Berlin’s Philharmonie. Recitals with Dorothea Röschmann and Ian Bostridge at the Barbican and in Carnegie Hall; Schubert’s Schöne M??llerin and Schumann’s Dichterliebe in Berlin. Festival appearances at the Schubertiade and in Salzburg. He performs jazz with Bobby McFerrin in Vienna, with Till Brönner in Berlin and with Maria João & Band at the Attersee Festival. His recording of Haydn arias with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra is released in autumn and supported by a German tour in December
2009 – Performances include Haydn’s Creation in London, Eisenstadt (Haydn Festival) and Hamburg, Haydn arias in New York, and The Seasons in Berlin, Zurich, Lucerne and Salzburg; Dvorák’s Requiem in Amsterdam and Vienna; Bach and Handel arias with the Berlin Baroque Soloists in Vienna, London and Paris; the St. Matthew Passion with the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig and London; Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust with Rattle in Philadelphia and Carnegie Hall and with Gergiev at the Barbican Centre; Mahler song cycles in Carnegie Hall; Elijah in Berlin and Hamburg; Elgar’s Gerontius with Rattle in Vienna. Festival appearances in Salzburg, Lucerne, Verbier and at the Schubertiade. Quasthoff is artistic director of the new Das Lied – International Song Competition which takes place for the first time in Berlin
2010 – Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder in Dresden and Spain with the Staatskapelle (Mehta); St. Matthew Passion with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Berliner Philharmoniker (Rattle), including the Salzburg Easter Festival; Elijah with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (Harding) in Lucerne, Bremen and Stockholm. Mozart Arias with the Camerata Salzburg in Salzburg and Paris. Recitals to include Lucerne (with Hélène Grimaud), Berlin (with Barenboim), the Schubertiade, Lisbon, London, Boston and New York. Jazz concerts in Austria, Germany and Luxembourg in conjunction with Autumn release of his new album Tell It Like It Is (produced by Jay Newland)
5/2010