The audio clips are truly beautiful. This man is an inspiration!
Posted on 10/01/2006 12:22:52 PM PDT by paulat
A Transcendent Voice By ARTHUR LUBOW
Thomas Quasthoff titled both his autobiography and a recent CD compilation “The Voice,” underscoring the bass-baritone vocal instrument that has made him an internationally acclaimed singer. But it is safe to say that the main thing an audience notices when Quasthoff takes the stage is the body in which that instrument is housed. He stands just over 4 feet 4 inches tall, on stumpy legs without knee joints or much thigh. His hands (missing two fingers on the left and one on the right) emerge from his shoulders like flippers. He lurches and sways his way to the front of the stage and up onto a wooden podium. And then, even before he utters a sound, he turns his head — normal size, it seems unusually large on his stunted body — and with a wide smile that is both beatific and earthy wins over the crowd in an instant.
As his fans well know but newcomers absorb with a jolt, the 46-year-old Quasthoff is a thalidomide victim, one of thousands of deformed children born to women who took the drug (marketed as Contergan in his native Germany) for insomnia or morning sickness during pregnancy. He spent much of his early childhood in an institution for the severely handicapped and grew up to receive music’s highest accolades, including three Grammy awards. With an appearance and life story so compellingly strange, it would be easy for the miracle of his perseverance and triumph, or the miracle of such a powerful and deep voice emerging from such a small body, to overwhelm the concert experience. Instead, if there is anything miraculous about Quasthoff, it is that a few minutes into a recital you stop thinking about his physique.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The audio clips are truly beautiful. This man is an inspiration!
Wow. I pitied myself because I had no shoes ...
He looks like a red x...
It takes a while...I can see the pic now after about 30 secs.
I've been using tinypics.com to post pics, but ever since they added videos, their performance s@cks.
Will be shopping for a new pic site. Any suggestions?
There he is!! TinyPic is what I usually use, but you're right...
Many of the victims of this drug were extreme bright. This man's gifts are extraordinary.
I can't link to the audio because it's a pop-up (if anybody knows how to do that, please feel free)...but if you want to hear him...just enter "Thomas Quasthoff" on amazon.com and go to one of his albums.
They have audio clips.
wow! what an amazing voice!
Happy stories are scarce these days, this is a great exception.
...especially from The New York Times!!! LOLOL!!!
Just think, if he had been born in the last 20 years or so, his mother would have been encouraged, if not bullied to have an abortion, and the world would have missed out on a truly remarkable voice.
FMCDH(BITS)
I had the same problem. Wanted me to download Quicktime. I did it, just because I have a new hard drive and I need it for other things.
Send me another message if that doesn't work out.
I thought the same thing you did! Respecting human life in any form can yield jewels!!!
I am sorry for his state, hard for a man...but look what he has done!!
I am so thrilled to read about his family life!
It is so emotional and full....
an amazing voice to match an amazing person.
i have so much admiration for someone who has
made such a name for himself through his great
achievements, despite the challenges he has
surely faced.
I agree...I just hope folks can see the pic, etc.
Bad taste to ping one's own...but this was wonderful from yesterday.
I just found this. Wonderful story. When I was little (I am 42, one of my brothers is 44), my mother would talk to us about the drug (it was still a fairly recent event then). The word has terrified me ever since. Now, there's talk of using it for other diseases.
Thank you for this. Apparently, there is a good use for the drug for people who are not procreating.
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