Ich habe genug ("I have enough")

I really do have enough. I have three recordings of the Bach cantata BWV 82, "Ich habe genug." It's Bach at his most cheerful: the cantata is all about how death is better than life. It's also Bach at his most beautiful; listening to the lush strings and plangent oboe, one could almost believe him. I just got the third of three recordings: one by the late and truly mourned Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson, one by the late Hans Hotter, and one by Thomas Quasthoff. All three are worth hearing. Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson was a very intense mezzo, with wonderful shading in her lower range and clarity in her upper. She was famous for her single staged performance of this cantata, in which she played a dying patient on her hospital bed, slowly pulling out all her tubes. Hans Hotter was one of the finest baritones of the past, with a very deep, dark, and solemn voice. Thomas Quasthoff is, in my opinion, this generation's Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau -- the baritone. His vocal coloration is decidedly finer than Hotter's; on the other hand, he breathes noticeably in unexpected places. Admittedly, this cantata is nearly impossible to sing, because Bach engages in one of his characteristic quirks: writing for voices as though they were instruments, with phrases that simply don't stop. Nonetheless, somehow, Hotter and Hunt-Lieberson manage to sing through those phrases without anyone knowing where they breathed. Also, the orchestral accompaniment on the Quasthoff is a little less than perfect; the oboe player is overenthusiastic and sometimes rushes. On the other hand, the choir is superb.

If you have to get only one version, get the Hunt-Lieberson. But you can pick up the other two for less than ten dollars apiece, and have experiences which are different, but just as wonderful.

Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson died this week after a long struggle with breast cancer, at the age of 52. It is hard not to believe that this cantata must have been in her mind.
Thomas Quasthoff was a thalidomide baby; he is four feet tall, with foot-long arms and tiny hands, one with three fingers, the other with four. In the liner notes, he says of this cantata, "There have been several times in my life when death seemed preferable to how I was living." His voice and heart make me glad that he stayed alive.