John Rockwell, a former arts critic for the New York Times, reviews the memoir of German bass baritone Thomas Quasthoff.

The work documents Quasthoff’s life, both as an internationally recognized artist and as a person with a disability. Quasthoff was one of thousands of children born with deformities after their mothers took the drug thalidomide during pregnancy.

An excerpt:

He suffered sadistic experiences as a child, perpetrated by a society that wanted to shut him and other disabled people out of sight, out of mind, even out of earshot.

He triumphed, as an artist and a person. Yet understandably he does not want to be known as a gnome or a dwarf — as he sometimes refers to himself in “The Voice,” his complex and touching memoir — who happens to sing. He wants to be admired as an artist, not a human-interest freak.

And he should be … “Luck has never been shy with me,” Quasthoff proclaims. And after this tale of initial terrible luck, then pain, then triumph, you believe him.

The first chapter of Quasthoff’s book can be read here.

Earlier reviews are here.

A video of a Quasthoff performance of “Gute Nacht” by Franz Schubert is here.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 1:09 pm and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, arts/music, books, celebrities, personal stories, public attitudes, stigma, success stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post