With A Romantic Songbook, Thomas Quasthoff attempts to re-create the spirit of a live recital in a studio recording. It certainly looks like a recital program: an assortment of lieder composers, each represented by a handful of favorite songs, with a few unfamiliar numbers thrown in to keep things interesting. There's even an encore – the traditional "Danny Boy." With the exception of Schumann's Belsatzar, the bass-baritone hasn't recorded any of these songs before, and, in fact, this is his first recording to include any songs by Mendelssohn, Carl Loewe, or Richard Strauss. This stylistic variety gives the album a breezy, cheerful disposition that matches Quasthoff's personality.

Thomas Quasthoff’s great artistry needs no introduction. Here he follows up his much-raised Bach Cantatas recording with another project perfectly suited to his dark-hued, flexible voice. In anticipation of the forthcoming Haydn year – the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death falls in May 2009 – Quasthoff turns his attention to the Viennese master’s considerable operatic output, with an album of arias drawn from both Haydn’s comic and serious operas.

This 2-CD set contains recordings of music conducted by Gary Bertini when he was chief conductor of the Radio Symphony Orchestra Cologne of the West-German Radio Corporation Cologne (WDR). In the Mass in C Minor, the first soprano part is full of virtuoso technical difficulties – especially in the famous “Et incarnatus est” passage – and here legendary soprano Arleen Augér interprets it in an exemplary manner.

The 2008 New Year’s Eve gala from Berlin features the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton or Sir Simon Rattle, plus world-class singers Thomas Quasthoff and Pauline Malefane in an outstanding all-American program ranging from Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” and “An American in Paris” to Copland’s “Old American Songs”.

Sir Simon Rattle was in no doubt: the performance of the St. Matthew Passion which he realized together with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Rundfunkchor Berlin in 2010 was for him “the single most important thing we ever did here.” Critics around the world agreed. They praised the semi-staged “ritualization” by American star-director Peter Sellars, as well as the outstanding musical performances by the soloists, including Magdalena Kozená, Christian Gerhaher, Thomas Quasthoff, and Mark Padmore as the Evangelist.

It's incredible that a work considered as securely at the core of the Western musical canon as J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion didn't receive a complete recording until after the Second World War, and that prior to that, unabridged performances were exceptionally rare; even Mendelssohn's momentous 1841 Leipzig performance was heavily cut, and Mendelssohn's son reported that even so, much of the audience "fled yawning before it was over." The earliest nearly complete recording was made in 1941 with Leipzig's Gewandhaus Orchestra and Thomanernchor, and those same forces are brought together again, along with the Tölzer Knabenchor, in this 2009 performance led by Riccardo Chailly.

One of the most admired Lieder and concert singers of his generation, Bass-Baritone Thomas Quasthoff returns to the studio with his first solo album since 2010. Thomas Quasthoff is approaching standards such as Nice and Easy or Cry Me A River with new arrangements by Jörg Achim Keller. The results: exciting new versions of familiar jazz-classics. This release finds the singer partnering again with German trumpeter Till Brönner - featuring a solo and his Trio Partners Frank Chastenier, Dieter Ilg and Wolfgang Haffner as well as the unique NDR Bigband.

With this 7th symphony concert conducted by Zubin Mehta featuring the baritone Thomas Quasthoff, the Staatskapelle Dresden initiated its Mahler celebrations due to the composer’s 150th birthday in 2010. Mehta has been one of the outstanding personalities of the international music scene for years. Already at the age of 25 he conducted the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic as well as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 1994 he has been closely associated with the Staatskapelle Dresden. Thomas Quasthoff is one of the most important and versatile singer of our time. Three of his CD recordings have been awarded with the Grammy.

With this 7th symphony concert conducted by Zubin Mehta featuring the baritone Thomas Quasthoff, the Staatskapelle Dresden initiated its Mahler celebrations due to the composer’s 150th birthday in 2010. Mehta has been one of the outstanding personalities of the international music scene for years. Already at the age of 25 he conducted the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic as well as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 1994 he has been closely associated with the Staatskapelle Dresden. Thomas Quasthoff is one of the most important and versatile singer of our time. Three of his CD recordings have been awarded with the Grammy.

The Verbier Festival is one of classical musics greatest events. In celebration of the festivals 25th anniversary, this unique concert brings together 36 classical stars in an unprecedented evening of ingenious programming and captivating performances. The line-up includes the worlds greatest violinists, violists, cellists and pianists as well as other leading performers conducted by Valery Gergiev and Gabor Takacs-Nagy. Founder and director Martin T:son Engstroem writes: We started this incredible adventure in 1994, and 25 years on, our Festival has become one of the worlds most important cultural events. But it is not just another festival; our vision right from the beginning was to build something which combined important musicians with a very visible youth and learning element. This is what we set out to do and this is what we achieved.

The Verbier Festival is one of classical musics greatest events. In celebration of the festivals 25th anniversary, this unique concert brings together 36 classical stars in an unprecedented evening of ingenious programming and captivating performances. The line-up includes the worlds greatest violinists, violists, cellists and pianists as well as other leading performers conducted by Valery Gergiev and Gabor Takacs-Nagy. Founder and director Martin T:son Engstroem writes: We started this incredible adventure in 1994, and 25 years on, our Festival has become one of the worlds most important cultural events. But it is not just another festival; our vision right from the beginning was to build something which combined important musicians with a very visible youth and learning element. This is what we set out to do and this is what we achieved.