# BARITONE TOURNAMENT (Bonus Matchup): Fischer-Dieskau vs Quasthoff



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Germany, 1925-2012






Thomas Quasthoff, Germany, 1959-






Who's singing did you prefer and why?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Is this a late recording of F-D? His tone here comes across as shallow and dry, and unpleasantly shouty when loud. I've never been a fan, but his singing was mellow and lovely early on and I enjoy some of his work from the '50s and '60s. As heard here, Quasthoff's sound is richer and more substantial, and his interpretation is fine.


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Woodduck said:


> Is this a late recording of F-D? His tone here comes across as shallow and dry, and unpleasantly shouty when loud. I've never been a fan, but his singing was mellow and lovely early on and I enjoy some of his work from the '50s and '60s. As heard here, Quasthoff's sound is richer and more substantial, and his interpretation is fine.


Should I search for a better recording? That's supposedly from 1970.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Bonetan said:


> Should I search for a better recording? That's supposedly from 1970.


This one is from 1958. I think I slightly prefer it to the 1970 version.






As for the comparison between Fischer-Dieskau and Quasthoff, I'm a bit undecided. Quasthoff has the richer voice and makes the pleasanter sound. He also responds well to the dramatic challenges of the song. Fischer-Dieskau's singing, even in 1958 is less beautiful but he mines the song for all its dramatic potential. Some find his approach too interventionist (the same thing has been said about Schwarzkopf) but I like it. He brings out the horror of the story that bit more.

I'll go for Fischer-Dieskau, but it's very close.


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## Aerobat (Dec 31, 2018)

Another unexpected vote from me. I was fully expecting Fischer-Dieskau to walk away with this. My ears preferred Quasthoff by a mile. A much more expressive, richer, interpretation.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Earlier version by Fischer-Dieskau is indeed preferable to later one, thanks for sharing.
Hats off to Quasthoff, his voice is rich and he also explores the drama of the song (one of my favorites), but Fischer-Dieskau just makes my blood run cold. An imperfect rendition, but it just gets me each time I listen to it. So my vote is in.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Azol said:


> Earlier version by Fischer-Dieskau is indeed preferable to later one, thanks for sharing.
> Hats off to Quasthoff, his voice is rich and he also explores the drama of the song (one of my favorites), but Fischer-Dieskau just makes my blood go cold. An imperfect rendition, but it just gets me each time I listen to it. So my vote is in.


That's what clinched it for me too. Quasthoff is by no means inexpressive, but Fischer-Dieskau reminds us that this is a horror story.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

I generally much prefer this song for female voice because I find the register break adds a huge amount of drama to the piece when utilized. That being said I also found these performances fairly underwhelming for male voice. Out of these two, Quasthoff was better.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Before looking at other posts I wanted to close my eyes and listen to two singers who are foreign to my repertoire of talents.
I know nothing at all about this aria so I decided to choose the voice that is most pleasing to me.
And the answer is... drumroll please ... Quasthoff.


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## Highwayman (Jul 16, 2018)

I agree with the previous posters on Quasthoff`s richer voice here, truly remarkable. However, DFD`s interpretation is quite perfect IMO. The unpleasantly shouty loudness (as Mr. Woodduck puts it) when he is singing as _the Son_ is solely intentional and reflects _the Son_`s horror. The shallowness/dryness when he is singing as _the Father_ reflects his unrelenting negligence towards his son and when he is singing as _the Erlkönig_ the singing becomes distinctly more elaborate which reflects its deceiving nature. The subtle mellowness of the tone in the latter part reminds us of his true capacity thus demonstrating the unpleasant sounds he makes when singing the other two parts were intentional. So DFD it is...


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Quasthoff. 
while we're at it, DFD is a tenor. he has never sounded remotely like a baritone in terms of timbre.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> Quasthoff.
> while we're at it, DFD is a tenor. he has never sounded remotely like a baritone in terms of timbre.


It does make one suspicious, doesn't it? But I really don't think he sounds like a tenor either. It's a very distinctive voice which works for some operas but not for others. He shouldn't be playing very dramatic parts (Rigoletto or Wotan), but I do like his sympathetic Kurwenal (the 1952 Furtwangler, not his later one with Kleiber), his Wolfram in the old EMI _Tannhauser_ (Konwitschny), and his Gunther in the Solti _Gotterdammerung,_ where the combination of his intelligence and that tenorish baritone makes an effect both noble and weak, as befits the character.

I admire F-D's intelligent artistry when it doesn't come across as too cerebral, but for sheer voice I prefer other people in virtually any music.


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

Thomas here is better, but I went for Dietrich to honor his memory. I love them both. Great work and amusement these small poll-competitions. 

(Callas, Caruso, Dietrich etc... face generally no competition in opera. But always be competition to certain arias and operas. (Bad days / glorious days)


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

OK, I'll play, for a change. I love early Fischer-Dieskau, but later in his career, at least on record, he became more mannered and prone to over-acting. I love Quasthoff's voice, and technique, but the timbre sometimes seems too light for the heavy-duty roles. Two great singers. As to whether they are true baritones, the range is obviously there, I guess it's a matter of taste and the particular role.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Woodduck said:


> But I really don't think [Fischer-Dieskau] sounds like a tenor either.


Agreed, although I'm sure I've read that he was asked if he'd consider the part of Siegmund, but he (rightly) declined as he felt the role lay too high for his voice.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> Agreed, although I'm sure I've read that he was asked if he'd consider the part of Siegmund, but he (rightly) declined as he felt the role lay too high for his voice.


That's an interesting factoid. Siegmund is probably the lowest major tenor role in all of opera, and I can imagine some baritones managing it (in addition, that is, to those like Vinay who sang in both vocal ranges).


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

fluteman said:


> OK, I'll play, for a change. I love early Fischer-Dieskau, but later in his career, at least on record, he became more mannered and prone to over-acting. I love Quasthoff's voice, and technique, but the timbre sometimes seems too light for the heavy-duty roles. Two great singers. As to whether they are true baritones, the range is obviously there, I guess it's a matter of taste and the particular role.


"the range is there" for many lyric sopranos to sing _re dell'abisso affrettati_ (only goes from G3-Ab5), but that doesn't mean they should be attempting it. I understand people not wanting to split hairs over a smaller distinction like "that's a lyric coloratura soprano!", "no, she's a light lyric!", "you're both wrong, she's a soubrette!", but tenor vs baritone on a basic level is a distinction that makes a big difference in practice. one should sing music in a range at which the voice peaks in intensity and fullness of timbre. DFD always sounded white, cold. at best, somewhat silvery, but his had nothing approaching the weight or color of, say, Robert Merrill, Cornell MacNeil, Nicolae Herlea or, more recently, Dmitri Hvorostovsky. I don't mean to suggest that there isn't variation within the baritone voice in terms of depth or timbre, but even a baritone on the lighter end is going to have a darker timbre than that and a bigger sound overall (esp. in the middle and bottom).


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## Agamenon (Apr 22, 2019)

DFD is almost perfect.


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