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Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

 
Music Encyclopedia: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
 

(b Berlin, 28 May 1925). German baritone. He made his concert début in 1947. The next year he sang Verdi's Posa in Berlin and was soon in demand throughout Europe in the operas of Strauss, Mozart and Wagner (Bayreuth from 1954). He made his British début in 1951 and sang in the USA from 1955. His commanding stage presence and full, resonant voice have been identified with such roles as Barak and Mandryka and Mozart's Count Almaviva and Don Alfonso. But his greatest achievement has been in lieder: he has an unequalled repertory of over 1000 songs, many of which he has recorded. His command of rhythm, flawless technique and profound feeling for the relation of words to music have set a standard in the songs of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf, making him one of the most highly valued singers of the century.



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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
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(born May 28, 1925, Berlin, Ger.) German baritone and conductor. He had his first extensive performance experience as a prisoner of war in Italy, and he made his professional debut in 1947. One of the most remarkable singers of his time, he was equally successful in the often mutually exclusive realms of opera and lied. His lyrical voice was supported by his commanding presence, intelligent musicianship, and superb artistry. He recorded most of the standard art-song repertoire, as well as numerous unusual and contemporary works; his many premieres included Benjamin Britten's War Requiem (1962).

For more information on Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
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Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich ('trĭkh fĭsh'ər-dēs'kou) , 1925–, German baritone. Possessed of a sensitive voice capable of a wide variety of range and expression, Fischer-Dieskau is one of the foremost singers of German lieder, being particularly noted for his interpretations of the songs and song cycles of Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, and Wolf, and has performed in German and Italian opera. He made his concert debut in Freiburg in 1947, performing in Brahms's German Requiem, and his operatic debut at the State Opera in Berlin in 1948, singing Rodrigo in Verdi's Don Carlo. He gave his farewell concert in 1992. Fischer-Dieskau has also been active as a conductor and he is a longtime teacher. In addition, he has written a number of books on music and is a widely exhibited painter.

Bibliography

See his memoirs, Reverberations (tr. 1989); biography by H. A. Neunzig (1995, tr. 1998); study by K. S. Whitton (1981).

 
Dictionary: Fi·scher-Die·skau   (fĭsh'ər-dē'skou) pronunciation, Dietrich
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Born 1925.

German baritone considered by most the world's foremost male interpreter of lieder. In 1965 he appeared in the debut of Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, an opera written for him by Benjamin Britten.


 
Quotes By: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
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Quotes:

"The future? Like unwritten books and unborn children, you don't talk about it."

 
Wikipedia: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
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The German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (born 28 May 1925) is a German singer and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder (art songs) singers of his generation. He is greatly admired for his interpretations, the tonal qualities and shadings of color in his voice, his exceptional rhythmic sense and his impeccable diction. Fischer-Dieskau has also performed and recorded many operatic roles.

Contents

Early years

Albert Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was born in Berlin to Albert, a principal, and Dora, a teacher. He started singing as a child and began formal voice lessons at the age of sixteen. When he was drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1943, Fischer-Dieskau had just completed his secondary school studies and one semester at the Berlin Conservatory. He was captured in Italy in 1945 and spent two years as an American prisoner of war. During that time, he sang lieder in POW camps to the homesick German soldiers.

Singing career

In 1947, he returned to Germany where he launched his professional career as a singer in Badenweiler when he sang in Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem without any rehearsal—he was a last-minute substitute for a singer who was indisposed. He gave his first lieder recital in Leipzig in the autumn of 1947 and followed it soon afterwards with a highly successful first concert at Berlin's Titania-Palast.

In the fall of 1948, Fischer-Dieskau was engaged as principal lyric baritone at the Berlin State Opera, making his debut as Posa in Verdi's Don Carlos under Ferenc Fricsay. Subsequently, Fischer-Dieskau made guest appearances at the opera houses in Vienna and Munich. After 1949 he made concert tours in the Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Italy. In 1951, he made his Salzburg Festival concert debut with Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) under Wilhelm Furtwängler. That year, he also made his British debut, at the Royal Albert Hall in London during the Festival of Britain. He appeared in Frederick Delius's A Mass of Life, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.[1] He made regular opera appearances at the Bayreuth Festival between 1954 and 1961 and at the Salzburg Festival from 1956 until the early 1970s.

As an opera singer, Fischer-Dieskau performed mainly at Berlin and at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. He also made guest appearances at the Vienna State Opera, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London, at the Hamburg State Opera, in Japan, and at the King's Theatre in Edinburgh during the Edinburgh Festival. His first tour in the United States took place in 1955, when he was 29, with his concert debut in Cincinnati on 15 April (J. S. Bach's Kreuzstab cantata) and 16 April (Ein Deutsches Requiem). His American lieder debut, singing Franz Schubert songs, took place in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on 19 April. His New York City debut occurred on 2 May at The Town Hall, where he sang Schubert's song cycle Winterreise without intermission. Both American recitals were accompanied by Gerald Moore.

In 1951, Fischer-Dieskau made his first recordings of lieder with Gerald Moore, at EMI Studios, London. They performed publicly until Moore retired from public performance in 1967. They continued to record together until 1972, in which year they completed their massive project of recording all of the Schubert lieder appropriate for the male voice. Gerald Moore retired completely in 1972, and died in 1987, aged 87. Their recordings of Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise are highly prized.

Fischer-Dieskau also performed many works of contemporary music, including Benjamin Britten, Samuel Barber, Hans Werner Henze, Ernst Krenek, Witold Lutosławski, Siegfried Matthus, Winfried Zillig, Gottfried von Einem and Aribert Reimann.

Beyond his recordings of lieder and German repertoire, Fischer-Dieskau also recorded interesting performances in the Italian operatic repertoire. His recordings as Rigoletto alongside Renata Scotto and Carlo Bergonzi and also Rodrigo in Verdi's Don Carlos are probably the most respected of these ventures. Both these recordings, made right at the peak of his career, are very fine indeed (comparable to performances of the quality shown by Tito Gobbi or Giuseppe Taddei at their peak ). Other roles such as the title role in Verdi's Macbeth alongside Elena Souliotis, Giorgio Germont in La traviata, and Scarpia in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca with Birgit Nilsson, and are not often as successful, showing insight and inventiveness but lacking somewhat in idiomatic Mediterranean vocal colour or temperament - perhaps seeming too Germanic. However, as with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Maria Callas, Fisher-Dieskau's performances always seem thought out and are often true to the score. Fischer-Dieskau retired from opera in 1978, the year he recorded his final opera, Aribert Reimann's "Lear."

Fischer-Dieskau retired from the concert hall in 1992 and dedicated himself to conducting, teaching (especially lieder), painting, writing books, etc.

In a 1999 "Top Singers of the Century" critics' poll compiled by British Classic CD magazine, Fischer-Dieskau came second, behind Jussi Björling.

He is an honorary member of the Robert Schumann Society.

Personal life

In 1949, Fischer-Dieskau married the cellist Irmgard Poppen. Together they had three sons: Mathias (stage designer), Martin (conductor), and Manuel (cellist). Irmgard died in 1963 of complications following childbirth. Afterwards, Fischer-Dieskau was married to the actress Ruth Leuwerik from 1965 to 1967 and Christina Pugel-Schule from 1968 to 1975. Since 1977 he has been married to the soprano Julia Varady.

Partial discography

As singer

Fischer Dieskau recorded mainly on the labels EMI, DG and ORFEO.

As conductor

Footnotes

  1. ^ Liner notes to Portrait of Dietriech [sic] Fischer-Dieskau, HMV, released by World Record Club

Books

  • The Fischer-Dieskau Book of Lieder: The Original Texts of over 750 Songs, translated by Richard Stokes and George Bird. Random House, 1977. (ISBN 0-394-49435-0)
  • Reverberations: The Memoirs of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, translated by Ruth Hein. Fromm International, 1989. (ISBN 0-88064-137-1)
  • Robert Schumann Words and Music: The Vocal Compositions, translated by Reinhard G. Pauly. Hal Leonard, 1992. (ISBN 0-931340-06-3)
  • Schubert's Songs: A Biographical Study. Alfred A. Knopf, 1977. (ISBN 0-394-48048-1)
  • Wagner and Nietzsche, translated by Joachim Neugroschel. Continuum International, 1976.

Further reading

  • Neunzig, Hans A. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Trans. Kenneth S Whitton. Gerald Duckworth & Co, 1998. (ISBN 0-7156-2818-6)
  • Whitton, Kenneth S. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: Mastersinger Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1981. (ISBN 0-8419-0728-5)

External links


 
 

 

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Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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