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Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.jpg
Born
Albert Dietrich Fischer

(1925-05-28)28 May 1925
Berlin, Germany
Died 18 May 2012(2012-05-18) (aged 86)
Berg, Upper Bavaria, Germany
Education Berlin Conservatory
Occupation
Years active 1947–2012

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (born May 28, 1925 – died May 18, 2012) was a famous German singer and conductor. He was known as a "baritone," which is a male singer with a medium-low voice. He became one of the most famous singers of "Lieder" (pronounced lee-der), which are German art songs. He was especially well-known for singing songs by Franz Schubert, like the famous "Winterreise" (Winter Journey). His recordings of these songs are still loved today.

Dietrich sang many different types of music from various time periods. A music expert named Alan Blyth said that no other singer had his range and skill. He sang opera, Lieder, and oratorios (large musical works) in German, Italian, and English. He also recorded songs in French, Russian, Hebrew, Latin, and Hungarian. People called him "one of the best singers of the 20th century."

Many critics thought he was one of the greatest singers ever. The French even called him "Le miracle Fischer-Dieskau" (The Fischer-Dieskau miracle). Another famous singer, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, said he was "a born god who has it all." He was admired for his amazing control and understanding of the music. He was a top performer in both opera and concerts for over thirty years.

Dietrich's Early Life

Albert Dietrich Fischer was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1925. His father, Albert Fischer, was a school principal, and his mother, Theodora Fischer, was a teacher. In 1934, his father added "Dieskau" to their family name.

Dietrich started singing when he was a child. He began taking formal singing lessons at age 16. In 1943, during World War II, he was drafted into the German army. He had just finished high school and one semester at the Berlin Conservatory. He served on the Russian Front and entertained his fellow soldiers by singing.

In 1945, he was captured in Italy and became an American prisoner of war. For two years, he sang Lieder in POW camps for homesick German soldiers. Sadly, his family home was destroyed during the war.

His Singing Career Begins

In 1947, Fischer-Dieskau returned to Germany. He started his professional singing career in Badenweiler. He sang in Johannes Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem without any practice, filling in for another singer.

He gave his first Lieder concert in Leipzig in the autumn of 1947. Soon after, he had a very successful concert in Berlin. Early in his career, he worked with famous singers like Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Irmgard Seefried. They released popular albums of Lieder by Schubert and Hugo Wolf.

In 1948, Fischer-Dieskau became a main singer at the Municipal Opera in West Berlin. His first performance there was as Posa in Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlos. This opera house, later called the Deutsche Oper, was his artistic home until he retired from opera in 1978.

He also performed as a guest singer in Vienna and Munich. After 1949, he toured in the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, and Italy. In 1951, he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival. He sang Gustav Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer. That same year, he performed in London at the Royal Albert Hall. He regularly appeared at the Bayreuth Festival and the Salzburg Festival for many years.

As an opera singer, Fischer-Dieskau mostly performed in Berlin and Munich. He also made guest appearances in Vienna, London, Hamburg, Japan, and Edinburgh. His first tour in the United States was in 1955 when he was 29. He sang in Cincinnati and Saint Paul, Minnesota. His New York City debut was at The Town Hall, where he sang Schubert's Winterreise. Gerald Moore was his piano accompanist for these American concerts.

In 1951, Fischer-Dieskau began making many recordings of Lieder with Gerald Moore in London. They recorded a complete Die schöne Müllerin (The Fair Miller-Maid). They performed together until Moore retired from public concerts in 1967. They continued to record until 1972, finishing their huge project of recording all of Schubert's Lieder for male voices. Their recordings of Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise are still highly valued.

Fischer-Dieskau also performed many modern classical music pieces. Composers like Benjamin Britten (who wrote War Requiem for him), Samuel Barber, and Hans Werner Henze chose him as a soloist. He sang in the 1975 premiere of Gottfried von Einem's cantata An die Nachgeborenen.

Besides German opera, Fischer-Dieskau also recorded Italian operas. His recordings of Verdi's Rigoletto and Rodrigo in Verdi's Don Carlos are very well-regarded. Conductor Ferenc Fricsay once said, "I never dreamed I'd find an Italian baritone in Berlin."

Retirement and Later Life

Fischer-Dieskau retired from opera in 1978. That year, he recorded his last opera, Aribert Reimann's Lear, which the composer wrote because Dietrich suggested it. He retired from concert performances on New Year's Day, 1993, at age 67.

After retiring, he focused on conducting, teaching (especially how to interpret Lieder), painting, and writing books. He still performed as a reciter, reading letters and performing melodramas. He also became an honorary member of the Robert Schumann Society.

Awards and Recognition

Throughout his career, critics often described his musical skill and technique as perfect. Greg Sandow of Opera News said, "Overall, his technique is breath-taking; someone should build a monument to it."

Time magazine called him "the world's greatest Lieder singer." He regularly sold out concert halls around the world until his retirement in 1992. His precise and accurate performances, where words and music were equally important, set standards that are still followed today. The current interest in German Romantic art songs is largely thanks to his efforts.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau received many awards, including:

  • Léonie Sonning Music Prize 1975
  • Ernst von Siemens Music Prize 1980
  • Praemium Imperiale 2002
  • Polar Music Prize 2005
  • Gramophone Hall of Fame entrant 2012
  • Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur 1990
  • Five Grammy Awards: in 1970, 1972, 1977, 1988, and 2000.

Personal Life

In 1949, Fischer-Dieskau married cellist Irmgard Poppen. They had three sons: Mathias (a stage designer), Martin (a conductor), and Manuel (a cellist). Irmgard passed away in 1963.

Afterward, Fischer-Dieskau was married to actress Ruth Leuwerik from 1965 to 1967, and Kristina Pugell from 1968 to 1975. In 1977, he married soprano Júlia Várady.

His older brother, Klaus Fischer-Dieskau, was a well-known choral director in Berlin. He conducted for Dietrich several times.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau smoked for a long part of his career. In 2002, he said in an interview that he quit smoking 20 years earlier, stopping in a single day after smoking for 35 years.

Death

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau died peacefully in his sleep on May 18, 2012. He passed away at his home in Berg, Germany, just 10 days before his 87th birthday.

Partial Discography

As singer

Fischer-Dieskau recorded mainly for the EMI, Deutsche Grammophon and Orfeo labels.

As reciter

  • Strauss, Enoch Arden, with Burkhard Kehring, piano

As conductor

On Video

  • Schubert, Winterreise, recorded July 1990, with Murray Perahia (piano).
  • Schubert, Winterreise, recorded January 1979, with Alfred Brendel (piano).
  • Mozart, Don Giovanni, Deutsche Oper Berlin, live performance in German, recorded 1961.
  • Strauss (Richard), Mahler, and Schubert: "Schwarzkopf, Seefried, and Fischer-Dieskau", a DVD.
  • Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro with Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, from the Salzburg Festival, 1963.
  • Mozart, Die Zauberflöte (1971) with Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. Fischer-Dieskau as the Speaker.
  • Verdi, Don Carlos, a live performance in German, from the Deutsche Oper, 1965.

Books Written by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

  • Texte deutscher Lieder (Texts of German Songs), 1968.
  • Auf den Spuren der Schubert-Lieder (On the Traces of Schubert's Songs), 1971.
  • Wagner und Nietzsche (Wagner and Nietzsche), 1974.
  • The Fischer-Dieskau Book of Lieder: The Original Texts of over 750 Songs, 1977.
  • Robert Schumann. Wort und Musik. Das Vokalwerk (Robert Schumann. Word and Music. The Vocal Work), 1981.
  • Töne sprechen, Worte klingen (Tones Speak, Words Sound), 1985.
  • Nachklang (Echoes), 1988.
  • Wenn Musik der Liebe Nahrung ist (If Music Be the Food of Love), 1990.
  • Weil nicht alle Blütenträume reifen (Because Not All Flower Dreams Ripen), 1993.
  • Fern die Klage des Fauns. Claude Debussy und seine Welt (Far the Lament of the Faun. Claude Debussy and his World), 1993.
  • [Paintings and drawings 1962–1994, a selection], 1994.
  • Schubert und seine Lieder (Schubert and his Songs), 1996.
  • Carl Friedrich Zelter und das Berliner Musikleben seiner Zeit (Carl Friedrich Zelter and Berlin's Music Life of his Time), 1997.
  • Die Welt des Gesangs (The World of Singing), 1999.
  • Zeit eines Lebens – auf Fährtensuche (Time of a Life – On a Quest), 2000.
  • Hugo Wolf. Leben und Werk (Hugo Wolf. Life and Work), 2003.
  • Musik im Gespräch: Streifzüge durch die Klassik mit Eleonore Büning (Music in Conversation: Rambles through Classical Music with Eleonore Büning), 2005.
  • Goethe als Intendant: Theaterleidenschaften im klassischen Weimar (Goethe as Director: Theater Passions in Classical Weimar), 2006.
  • Johannes Brahms: Leben und Lieder (Johannes Brahms: Life and Songs), 2008.
  • Jupiter und ich: Begegnungen mit Furtwängler (Jupiter and I: Encounters with Furtwängler), 2009.

Images for kids

  • Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

    Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

See also

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