Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
Fri, May 18 2012, 1:18PM
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Report in Suddeutsche Zeitung:
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/bekannter-schubert-interpret-fischer-d...
The end of an era! This makes me sadder than I can say.
He died today at Starnberg in the Bavarian Mountains, not long before his 87th birthday.
Fri, May 18 2012, 1:56PM
#2
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
Indeed, very sad news. One of the truly great singers.
The BBC has this:
Fri, May 18 2012, 2:05PM
#3
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
So strange, I was just listening to Macbeth when I red this news.
On the other hand, he had a good age.
R.I.P
Fri, May 18 2012, 4:11PM
#4
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
The world of Classical Music has become poorer indeed. He was such a charismatic and dedicated singer. The musical world will miss his artistry and musicianship.
However, we are all mortals. We cannot avoid the inevitable. At least, Fischer-Dieskau departed having left all he could have done. A major achievement by any standard.
Lately, (in this fatal year, in particular), we missed quite a few great artists of Classical Music. I so much miss the great harpsichordist, organist and conductor Gustav Leonhardt too. A great personality, a huge musician in his field and one of the most dedicated artist of his generation.
I hope our memory will serve them well and their precious master tapes will never get away.
Parla
Fri, May 18 2012, 4:49PM
#5
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
Oh yes, that is truly sad! He was one of the last living links to the grand old post-war period of classical music, performed with Furtwängler and so many other greats!
So truly sensitive in his expression, so intelligent, so perfectly balanced and phrased. Apart of course from his exceptionally beautiful voice.
Well, we should all be grateful for what he has given us! I was lucky to go to his last London appearance in 1992, Schwanengesang.
Fri, May 18 2012, 5:12PM
#6
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
Sad, indeed. Just yesterday I played the complete broadcast of Busoni's Doktor Faust done in 1959 in which of course he sings Faust. Magnificent performance from all concerned. Boult conducts. Don't buy it on the cut LPO CD version. The complete broadcast, applause and all, was just released on the Immortal Performances label.
Fri, May 18 2012, 5:34PM
#7
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
Don't buy it on the cut LPO CD version. The complete broadcast, applause and all, was just released on the Immortal Performances label.
Thank you very much for this useful information! I wanted to get this, but couldn't bring myself to buy the cut version: now I've ordered from Immortal Performances!
Fri, May 18 2012, 6:33PM
#8
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
I know you'll enjoy it. The third CD in the set is Busoni's Arlecchino from Glyndebourne in 1954. The producer had access to a live performance by the same cast who recorded it shortly after for EMI. He found the EMI performance to be far better in performance and sound, so used that one, with commentary from the live performance. There are three shorter works by Busoni conducted by Boult and Toscanini, but the sound of all three is just fair but interesting none the less.
Sat, May 19 2012, 12:02AM
#9
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
I, too, was sad to hear of his passing. I hope to listen to some of his recordings tonight and over the next few days in particular to remind me of his specialness. He truly had an exceptional voice and was amazingly sensitive in his interpretations.
Best wishes to all,
Petra
Sat, May 19 2012, 4:32PM
#10
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
The first words I heard today were the voice of Fischer-Dieskau singing "Guten Tag"! I'd switched on Radio 3 in the middle of "Ging heut' morgen übers Feld" just before 8am. Poignant moment!
Mon, May 21 2012, 9:34AM
#11
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
Fi-Di's singing of Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen on the famous recording under Szell has to be one of the absolute wonders of recorded sound with his "Das ist der Herzallerliebste dein" perhaps the most beautiful ever sound produced by the human voice. That phrasing lingered with me for days after I first acquired the recording, years ago, and now it's back.
Mon, May 21 2012, 2:23PM
#12
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
The end of an era
Mon, May 21 2012, 7:00PM
#13
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
Fi-Di's singing of Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen on the famous recording under Szell has to be one of the absolute wonders of recorded sound with his "Das ist der Herzallerliebste dein" perhaps the most beautiful ever sound produced by the human voice. That phrasing lingered with me for days after I first acquired the recording, years ago, and now it's back.
I couldn't agree more. That's the disc and song which to me epitomizes the man's genius. If anything, the second entrance, "Acht weine nicht, du Liebste mein" is even more spine-tingling, the voice seeming to float in from another world.
Wed, May 23 2012, 6:28PM
#14
RE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has died.
In the discussion of the great man's intellectualizing of the Lied (point which I don't agree with) his purely vocal qualities, beauty of voice and sincerety (simplicity, yes) of expression are often overlooked. I think that it was Fischer-Dieskau's use of an 'echt' legato which set him apart, not just as a Lieder singer (von Otter and Gerhaher know it too) but as a Bach singer. He is unequalled in this field and the recent issue of the old Ristenpart recordings (on Audite) reminds us of this, should we have forgotten.
I have said it before, I don't agree with J.B. Steane's well-known assessment that Fischer-Dieskau was a singer you never longed to hear. Fischer-Dieskau has given me more 'aha, that's the way it should be done' experiences than any other singer (perhaps Callas apart). It is also wonderful that you can actually hear what the man is singing, I admit to that.
R.I.P. A true god in an age of mortals has crossed the rainbow bridge.