Photo Gallery 'Tears in Sound'
German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff, one of Germany's best known classical singers, recently announced his decision to retire from the stage. In a SPIEGEL interview, he discusses his thalidomide disability, his talent for entertaining an audience and what he sees as his mission in life.
"You reach your audience at the moment when you really have something to say -- that is, when you're not just delivering a performance," says German bass-baritone singer Thomas Quasthoff. (The late German soprano) "Anneliese Rothenberger once called it the 'tears in the sound.' I think I had that."
Foto: epa apa Robert Newald/ picture alliance / dpa
Speaking of his handicap caused by the drug thalidiomide, Quasthoff says: "Today, I can say in all honesty that there was certainly a bonus for being disabled. But you only get it once. After you've appeared ... at Carnegie Hall, people no longer come to hear you because you're disabled, but because they like to hear you."
Foto: Ursula Düren/ picture alliance / dpa
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