May 25th of this year marks the 100th anniversary of baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s birth. Remarkable for his beauty of tone, his superb technical mastery, his probing intelligence, and above all, his dedication to his art, Fischer-Dieskau left over a thousand recordings, most of which are essential listening for lovers of classical singing, from opera to art song, choral masterworks to modern song cycles.
His art springs, first and foremost, from scrupulous attention to realizing the demands of the composer, and his example is celebrated in the grateful tributes and ongoing work of his many pupils, including Matthias Goerne, Christian Gerhaher, and Benjamin Appl.
To celebrate Fischer Dieskau’s anniversary, here are 10 recordings to savor, highlighting the gifts and legacy of this towering giant among twentieth-century artists.
1. Franz Schubert: “Im Abendrot,” D. 799
We have to begin with Schubert, a cornerstone of Fischer-Dieskau’s repertoire – particularly the enormous collection of 27 LPs that he recorded with Gerald Moore in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Encompassing almost all of Schubert’s Lieder that might be considered “men’s” songs, this set opened many singers’ and listeners’ ears to hitherto neglected or unknown songs. His performance of “Im Abendrot,” is poised, rapturous, and unforgettable – achieving the musical paradox of singing beautifully while conjuring up the sensation of breath held in awe at a moment of heart-stopping gratitude.
2. Gustav Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer)
From 1952, early in Fischer-Dieskau’s career, this recording, with Furtwängler conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra, is notable both for the youthful freshness of the voice (so apt for these songs about young love and heartbreak) and the drama it conveys, stemming (as always in this singer) from careful attention to the words and their meaning. No matter how many other great performances of this cycle there are, this one seems to come closest of all to fulfilling all that Mahler asks of his singer and orchestra.
3. Johannes Brahms: German Requiem, III. “Herr, lehre doch mich”
John Steane says it best: “Essentially there is one singer of these solos and that is Fischer-Dieskau. The inner acceptance (‘haben muss … davon muss’), the quiet acknowledgement (‘mein Leben ist wie nichts’), a sighing quality in the ‘Ach, wie gar nichts,’ a wistful insubstantiality in ‘wie ein Schemen,’ a suggestion of fatherly sternness in the phrase about what is likely to happen to your money when you’re not there to see … [all exemplify] this singer’s uncanny way of getting through to what is particular in everything he sings, and making it matter.” (Choral Music on Record, ed. Alan Blyth)
4. Richard Wagner: “Wie Todesahnung … O du, mein holder Abendstern” (Song to the Evening Star) from Tannhäuser
This selection is a salutary reminder of something that doesn’t always get mentioned first when Fischer-Dieskau comes up for discussion – his sheer beauty of tone and evenness of production. The poise and command are matched to a Lieder-singer’s care for the meaning of the words, so that here the recitative is richly meaningful, rather than marking time until the aria proper can begin. And the aria itself is similarly both gorgeously and intelligently sung.
5. Richard Strauss: “Ständchen,” Op. 17, no. 2
In this, one of Strauss’s best-known Lieder, Fischer-Dieskau again shows just how much more there is to be found in a familiar song. The lightness of the voice and mischievous, almost teasing tone mimic the light elfin steps the serenader invites the listener to take hurrying to join him beyond the garden gate. As the song progresses, the mystery and gathering sense of passion lead inevitably to the rapturous climax. It’s achieved so seamlessly that the whole emerges as a single natural arch.
6. Giuseppe Verdi: “Il balen del suo sorriso” from Il Trovatore
Fischer-Dieskau’s Verdi divides many listeners. Some cannot get past the unfamiliarity of the voice in this Italianate music, and certainly nobody would suggest that he is an ideal Verdi baritone. Still, Riccardo Muti has pointed out often how similar Verdi’s accompaniments are to the accompaniments in Schubert’s Lieder, and here Fischer-Dieskau extends the parallel, showing how much Verdi’s music benefits from scrupulous attention to legato, to the musical shape, and to the notes. Listen to the series of 32nd notes following the high G of the phrase “la tempesta del mio cor” at 1:35 – many baritones with more innately Verdian sounds turn this into a smear, rather than a clean musical turn.
7. Benjamin Britten: “So Abram rose, and clave the wood” from War Requiem
This selection illustrates two further aspects of Fischer-Dieskau’s career. The first is his commitment to contemporary music, from Hanz Werner Henze to Othmar Schoeck, from Aribert Reimann to Britten, who specifically wrote the baritone part of his War Requiem for Fischer-Dieskau. The other is his eager embrace of opportunities to join with others – so that his singing always seemed a kind of chamber-music making, rather than a lonely or egotistic occupation. Here, he and Peter Pears collaborate to bring to life Britten’s and Wilfred Owen’s bitter and ironic retelling of the story of Abraham and Isaac, including the magical moment when the two blend their sounds to create the voice of the angel of God.
8. Schumann: “Der Nussbaum,” Op. 25, no. 3
Here’s a song we might not expect to find Fischer-Dieskau singing – it’s more commonly sung by women, or by tenors. For those who can find Fischer-Dieskau’s hyperattentive focus on detail overly fussy or hectoring, this is proof that he could sing naturally and lightly with the best of them. Even so, there are worlds of meaning in the slight darkening of tone for “Dächte,/ Die Nächte” or the gentle assurance in the repetition of “nächstem Jahr.” Gentle touches, but ones that open up depths beneath the glorious melodic surface.
9. Hugo Wolf: “Ganymed”
If any composer’s music seems to be written specifically for Fischer-Dieskau’s intelligence and musicianship, it might be Wolf’s. Here, he matches the composer’s imaginative response to Goethe’s poem with an equally sensitive and masterful observation of all that Wolf asks. It’s ardent and youthful as the poem demands, but also poised, balanced and full of the delight of discovery that lies at the heart of all of Fischer-Dieskau’s Lieder singing.
10. Schubert: Die Winterreise, D. 911
This survey really cannot end anywhere else but here, the supreme Lieder-singer’s challenge and reward. Fischer-Dieskau put this cycle on disc many times over his career, and in this recording from 1966 with Jörg Demus, he achieved a near-ideal balance of tonal beauty, interpretive insight, and deep wisdom. Schubert’s journey is one that parallel Fischer-Dieskau’s own career, a striving toward understanding and truth, unsparing in its honesty and dedication. His insights and artistry will continue to enrich the world of singers and listeners well into the next 100 years.
