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Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was a German lyric baritone and conductor, born in 1925 in Berlin. He was regarded as one of the most famous performers of the art song in the post-war period and is best known as a singer of the songs of Franz Schubert. He was taken prisoner in Italy in 1945 and in the prisoner-of-war camps sang songs for homesick German soldiers. In 1947 he began his career, with a last-minute substitution in Brahms's Deutsches Requiem without rehearsal. He gave his first song recital that same year in Leipzig.

Music and breakthrough

From 1948 he was principal singer at the Städtische Oper Berlin, the later Deutsche Oper, where he made his debut as Posa in Verdi's Don Carlos. He collaborated early on with the sopranos Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Irmgard Seefried and with the producer Walter Legge. His recordings of songs by Schubert and Hugo Wolf were an immediate success. He recorded Winterreise in 1955, among other works, as well as Die Zauberflöte and Tristan und Isolde. What made him special was the breadth of his repertoire: opera, song and oratorio in German, Italian or English. In a poll from 1999 he was named the second best singer of the century.

Influence

Fischer-Dieskau became a benchmark for the art song after the war, and his recordings of Schubert are still the starting point for many listeners.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to his recording of Winterreise. Notice how he colours the mood of the text with his voice.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists