# Favorite recordings of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau?



## chesapeake bay (Aug 3, 2015)

I first heard his voice on Mahler Das Lied von der Erde and followed up with Kindertotenlieder and Rückertlieder. I just ran across an Archive disk with him singing Bach Cantata's which is also excellent. What other disks would you recommend by this wonderful baritone?


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Any of his Schubert, Schumann or Wolf lieder. Anything really. He is one of my favourite singers.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Oh, and his Strauss lieder and his Brahms lieder!


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Britten's classic recording of the _War Requiem_ on Decca; Fischer-Dieskau setting the benchmark in a part specifically written with him in mind.

DFD also left a great legacy of Wagner recordings:

- He's a vivid Telramund on Kempe's EMI _Lohengrin_, forming an unbeatable double-act with Christa Ludwig's Ortrud
- A matchless Kurwenal on Furtwängler's _Tristan_ (also good for Carlos Kleiber, in better sound but older voice)
- A quirky and controversial Sachs on Jochum's _Meistersinger_ on DG (personally, I love his performance)
- Possibly the greatest ever Wolfram in _Tannhäuser_, e.g. in Peter Konwitschny's EMI recording
- The best-acted and most sympathetic Gunther in Solti's _Götterdämmerung_
- A noble and moving Amfortas in Solti's _Parsifal_

...I'm a bit of a fan, as you might guess


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Amen to all the Schubert, Schumann, Strauss and Wagner mentions :clap::cheers: And the Bach cantatas as well.

He is really my favorite singer ever - so very thoughtful and sensitive. And his pronunciation is a paragon of what the German language should sound like, soft, warm and sweet.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Quite peerless in my opinion and his work with Gerald Moore is a benchmark in the art of lieder singing and playing.


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## chesapeake bay (Aug 3, 2015)

well this may have backfired a tad, instead of delimiting my search you guys are expanding it!


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## Guest (Sep 28, 2016)

Many song cycles are recorded many times.Die Winterreise for example,the first time in mono and later for the same label in stereo (EMI)Than you have another on DG with Gerald MORE:lol: and Georg Demus.There is so much yo discover and it is all very fine,what a treasures!

There is also a recording with Brendel on Philips.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> Britten's classic recording of the _War Requiem_ on Decca; Fischer-Dieskau setting the benchmark in a part specifically written with him in mind.
> 
> DFD also left a great legacy of Wagner recordings:
> 
> ...


I'm with you on all of the above. You can add his Mozart into the mix too. Basically he could sing a phone book and make it enjoyable.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

This was my first recording of DF-D that I got on vinyl more years ago than I care to remember. Replaced on cd years later.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Schubert. Early recordings. Pre-1960. EMI.

Bach. St.Matthew. Klemperer. EMI.

Some unusual stuff: 
Busoni Dr. Faust. Leitner. DG.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

joen_cph said:


> Some unusual stuff:
> Busoni Dr. Faust. Leitner. DG.


Excellent choice, to which I'd add Aribert Reimann's _Lear_, another rôle I believe was written for him. Sticking to the unusual/offbeat, there's also the somewhat undervalued _Cantata misericordium_ by Britten; DFD at his expressive best, and one of my favourite Britten recordings.


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## jenspen (Apr 25, 2015)

I'll do my best to delimit the colossal volume of great DFD recordings for you!

I'm not alone in thinking the great man's voice was at its sweetest between 1958 and the early 1970s, particularly from 1958-1965. Here are some favourite recordings of mine that are from that period:

The DFD/Demus recording of Schubert's Winterreise for Deutsche Grammophon mentioned by Traverso

An EMI 2 disc collection of Schubert Lieder recordings made from 1958-65 with Moore and Engel.

Dichterliebe and Liederkreis Op. 39 by Schumann (I can't remember which particular recording to recommend)

Wolf Mörike-Lieder with Gerald Moore EMI - my favourite of them all. So I just googled and found a 1990 New York Times article about Lieder singing which concluded with this paragraph:

_The two-CD Fischer-Dieskau compilation of the ''Morike-Lieder'' plus the three ''Michelangelo-Lieder'' on EMI/Angel CDMD 63559 are a blisteringly vivid listening experience from beginning to end. The recordings were done in 1957, putting them in the same time frame as the three Schubert cycles. Yet even more impressively than in the Schubert, this wizard of color and timbre alteration gives a kaleidoscopic display of just how to infuse each song with the right mood and vocal weight - impressively mirrored in Mr. Moore's partnering - so that the full flavor of Wolf's singular view of the medium is realized. It could be said that Wolf wrote these pieces for just such a singer as Mr. Fischer-Dieskau_

Among the rest of the vast repertoire you can explore from Couperin to recent decades (something for every taste), I particularly like Barbebleu's recommendation of DFD's Mozart.

You've already mentioned the Archiv bass cantatas with Richter but I can't help telling the planet that hearing these on the radio one night was a life-changing experience for me - opened a whole world of music . I wish you joy of your further explorations!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Schubert lieder on DG, wonderful sung, Mahler: lieder on EMI to name a few.
I do like his Macbeth also, despite the hatred towards it.


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## chesapeake bay (Aug 3, 2015)

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the excellent recommendations!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Barbebleu said:


> Oh, and his Strauss lieder...


One of which led to my signature on this board.

His very late recordings show some voice deterioration, but apart from that, I have enjoyed every DFD CD in my collection (and that's many dozens).


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Art Rock said:


> One of which led to my signature on this board.


It is a very beautiful lied, indeed, especially as sung by DFD. My other favorite one is "Zueignung".


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> Britten's classic recording of the _War Requiem_ on Decca; Fischer-Dieskau setting the benchmark in a part specifically written with him in mind.
> 
> DFD also left a great legacy of Wagner recordings:
> 
> ...


I'm not much of a DFD-in-opera fan myself. I find he's pretty unconvincing in Wagnerian bass-baritone roles, and only works well as a lighter baritone, particularly for roles where he's playing an elegant, cultured character. I find him most convincing as the Conte in Nozze di Figaro for instance and totally miscast as Wotan or the Hollander. I thought he made a poor Sachs although I think he would have been a terrific Beckmesser. He's better as Amfortas and Wolfram but definitely not my favorites. He's pretty rough in Verdi, I don't find him remotely believable as Rodrigo, Macbeth, Iago or Rigoletto. Even in Mozart, I like his Conte but am totally unconvinced by his Don Giovanni.

I do like his Schubert lieder and Bach oratorio though. I don't love his Das Lied but mostly because I don't like any baritones doing this, being fully convinced that this should be tenor and alto or mezzo only. His other Mahler songs are lovely but I'd prefer a straighter reading, finding both him and Schwarzkopf overly refined for the pieces.


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## chesapeake bay (Aug 3, 2015)

howlingfantods said:


> I'm not much of a DFD-in-opera fan myself. I find he's pretty unconvincing in Wagnerian bass-baritone roles, and only works well as a lighter baritone, particularly for roles where he's playing an elegant, cultured character. I find him most convincing as the Conte in Nozze di Figaro for instance and totally miscast as Wotan or the Hollander. I thought he made a poor Sachs although I think he would have been a terrific Beckmesser. He's better as Amfortas and Wolfram but definitely not my favorites. He's pretty rough in Verdi, I don't find him remotely believable as Rodrigo, Macbeth, Iago or Rigoletto. Even in Mozart, I like his Conte but am totally unconvinced by his Don Giovanni.
> 
> I do like his Schubert lieder and Bach oratorio though. I don't love his Das Lied but mostly because I don't like any baritones doing this, being fully convinced that this should be tenor and alto or mezzo only. His other Mahler songs are lovely but I'd prefer a straighter reading, finding both him and Schwarzkopf overly refined for the pieces.


I don't have alot of experience with Wagner yet, and though I do want to listen to D F-D, I'd love to get your recommendations for those roles you mention that you don't think are suited to him.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

chesapeake bay said:


> I don't have alot of experience with Wagner yet, and though I do want to listen to D F-D, I'd love to get your recommendations for those roles you mention that you don't think are suited to him.


For all of them? My favorite Wotan is Hans Hotter, my favorite Hollander is Hermann Uhde, favorite Sachs is Paul Schoffler, favorite Amfortas is Jose Van Dam, favorite Wolfram is Peter Mattei, Rodrigo is Ettore Bastianini, Macbeth is probably Leonard Warren, Iago is Giuseppe Taddei, Rigoletto is Riccardo Stracciari. For Don Giovanni, I tend to favor the basses like Siepi or Ghiaurov over baritones, but I'm also not that keen on Mozart so I'm not sure how seriously I'd take my recommendation there.

eta- only the first few of these are Wagner--sorry, wasn't sure if you only wanted my faves there or all the other roles too.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

howlingfantods said:


> I'm not much of a DFD-in-opera fan myself. I find he's pretty unconvincing in Wagnerian bass-baritone roles, and only works well as a lighter baritone, particularly for roles where he's playing an elegant, cultured character. I find him most convincing as the Conte in Nozze di Figaro for instance and totally miscast as Wotan or the Hollander. I thought he made a poor Sachs although I think he would have been a terrific Beckmesser. He's better as Amfortas and Wolfram but definitely not my favorites.


Just to be clear, I wouldn't say that he was the best in those roles - although I'd maintain that he gives the wonderful Hermann Uhde a run for his money in the role of Telramund, ditto George London as Amfortas. Unlike other great singers in this repertoire, of course, DFD was not blessed with a deep, imposing voice. However, his lighter instrument perhaps gave him more flexibility in delineating the character, which (for me) often produced a more interesting, and dramatically rewarding, result. To that extent, at least, he was convincing enough for me.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

My favorite performance of DFD is his singing of the usual female part of in Das Lied von der Erde with James King and the Vienna Philharmonic directed by Leonard Bernstein.


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

hpowders said:


> My favorite performance of DFD is his singing of the usual female part of in Das Lied von der Erde with James King and the Vienna Philharmonic directed by Leonard Bernstein.


Yes, this is a stunning recording.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Heliogabo said:


> Yes, this is a stunning recording.


Depend on ones taste.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

I have not found a better thread to leave my little declaration of love than this one.

For the last two weeks Dietrich has been a constant companion of mine. I have been listening to him singing Schubert, Schumann, Mahler, Bach and - my latest acquisition - Hugo Wolf. There is a highly hilarious review of Dietrich's Schubert collection on Amazon that starts with "I have not been outside for nearly a month. The pizza boxes are piling up like a ziggurat..." Well, I am as close to a real-life version of that recluse student as there have ever been (except that in my state of joyful expectation I have not the slightest intention of dying). Even when I do leave my apartment, I have lieder excerpts floating around in my head, and I cannot wait to get back.

The best is late-night listening, staring into the darkness, cradling a teacup in my hands, totally concentrated on the music and on Dietrich's velvety baritone speaking to me through the recordings: sometimes almost thunderous, and sometimes oh-so-gentle. I have read criticisms of him, namely that he pays too much attention to words and syllables to the detriment of the entire piece, but for me that only adds another layer to the attraction. It is as if the words themselves become three-dimensional, as if they had not only their usual sound-shapes, but physical shapes as well, as if I could reach out and touch them. I have had similar moments of words coming alive, with other singers, but noone else can do it so perfectly and continuously as Dietrich can.

And then there is his Amfortas in the Solti recording of Parsifal. That moment in Act III, at the funeral of Titurel, where Dietrich sings:

_Oh, der du jetzt in göttlichem Glanz
den Erlöser selbst erschaust... _

wrings tears from my eyes every time, and it is as close as I get these days to a religious feeling. In fact I wish I were religious at that moment, wish I could believe in the same "Erlöser" as Amfortas does.

Gosh, just why do I have this habit of falling in love with dead Germans....


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

> Gosh, just why do I have this habit of falling in love with dead Germans....


I am quit sure there are lot's living walking about right now as we speak.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Pugg said:


> I am quit sure there are lot's living walking about right now as we speak.


Yes, and I am about to marry one (oh joy!). The dead ones are an entirely different matter


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I like the Schubert box on D.G most of all, however I do have warm feelings on the Handel arias recitals disc also.


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

Frank MARTIN: 6 Monologe aus »Jedermann« (1943/49)
:: Fischer-Dieskau, Martin/BPO [DG '63]

"Angst-ridden" is the order of the day here, and, love him or hate him, the neurotic, high-strung Fischer-Dieskau is all about angst-ridden. The one drawback to the recording is that Fischer-Dieskau is mic'd too closely and balanced too far forward of the orchestra.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Gosh, just why do I have this habit of falling in love with dead Germans....


I have the same habit.  I'm in love with Beethoven. I know that he was grumpy and disheveled and temperamental--and I don't care, I love him anyway! His music makes up for all his character flaws.

If I could travel back in time, I would propose to him. Of course, he would be shocked by such an assertive move...18th/19th century women were generally expected to sit there passively and wait for the man to take the lead.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Verdi Falstaff
Brahms Requiem
Schubert Winterreise
Mahler Das Lied


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

starthrower said:


> Verdi Falstaff
> Brahms Requiem
> Schubert Winterreise
> Mahler Das Lied


Forgot that one, shame one me.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Has anyone heard the recording of Dietrich's operatic debut - the 1948 Don Carlos in German from the Berlin Opera? What does he sound like as a very young man?


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Has anyone heard the recording of Dietrich's operatic debut - the 1948 Don Carlos in German from the Berlin Opera? What does he sound like as a very young man?


There's a clip from it on YouTube.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I have the one from 1965 on DVD ( black and white) have a reasonable sound, that's as far I can go back.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Of course if you like Schubert's Winterreisse, you probably already have one by Fischer-Dieskau or Hermann Prey.

I personally hate the guy for starting the hyphenated name craze. So tired of seeing names in the US like Mona Davis-Williams-Johnson.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

hpowders said:


> Of course if you like Schubert's Winterreisse, you probably already have one by Fischer-Dieskau or Hermann Prey.


I have those and Ian Bostridge, Hans Hotter, Peter Schreier, Peter Pears and Jonas Kaufmann. I'd need to check but I'm pretty sure I have two by Hotter and either two or three by F-D. Oh, and an unusual one with Brigitte Faessbender singing.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Barbebleu said:


> I have those and Ian Bostridge, Hans Hotter, Peter Schreier, Peter Pears and Jonas Kaufmann. I'd need to check but I'm pretty sure I have two by Hotter and either two or three by F-D. Oh, and an unusual one with Brigitte Faessbender singing.


Have you heard the Jon Vickers one?


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Pugg said:


> Have you heard the Jon Vickers one?


To my eternal shame I haven't and on checking I find that I have it and for reasons best known to myself I just haven't got round to listening to it. I shall remedy that transgression soon.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

hpowders said:


> Of course if you like Schubert's Winterreisse, you probably already have one by Fischer-Dieskau or Hermann Prey.
> 
> I personally hate the guy for starting the hyphenated name craze. So tired of seeing names in the US like Mona Davis-Williams-Johnson.


He has recorded at least half a dozen Winterreisen, but I only have one, with Gerald Moore. I listened to it eight times during yesterday and loved it very much. I also have recordings made by Ian Bostridge and Jonas Kaufmann.

You hate Wagner, you hate DFD... isn't that a little too much hate, or is it only the ones I happen to love?  I very much doubt that most people in the US who bear a hyphenated last name have ever heard of Fischer-Dieskau.


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## jenspen (Apr 25, 2015)

hpowders said:


> ....
> 
> I personally hate the guy for starting the hyphenated name craze. So tired of seeing names in the US like Mona Davis-Williams-Johnson.


I know, where will it all end? But it was DFD's father's idea to affix the name of a famous ancestor - one of Frederick the Great's generals- : https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Wilhelm_von_Dieskau.

And I believe DFD sang Bach's Peasant Cantata (commissioned by Carl Heinrich von Dieskau) with particular relish:

Und rufen dabei fröhlich aus: Es lebe Dieskau und sein Haus ( And merrily we cry: Long live Dieskau and his house)*. See 29:19 of*:


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