No, we don’t mean that Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a century old, it’s that this new recording is celebrating the centenary of his birth. Born on 28 May 1925 in Berlin, the lyric baritone and conductor who seemingly covered the entire genre of lieder over his recording career. His first successes came in opera, however, with his debut in 1948 in Don Carlos as Posa. He appeared at the Vienna State Opera, and from 1951 to 1956 at Bayreuth as the Herald (Lohengrin), Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Kothner (Meistersinger), and Amfortas (Parsifal). He originated roles such as Mittenhofer in Hans Werner Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers (1961) and 8 the title role in Aribert Reimann’s Lear (1974). Other operas were in his repertoire, and vocal-orchestral works such as Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, which he recorded multiple times, singing the mezzo-soprano part.
The young Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, ca 1960
It is his life as a lieder singer, though, that is the subject of this new SOMM Recordings / Ariadne CD set. The first CD contains lieder by Ferruccio Busoni from a 1962 programme with Gerald Moore. Lieder of texts by Goethe, set by the poet’s contemporaries: the Countess Anna Amalia, Johann Friedrich Reichardt, and Carl Friedrich Zelter, are matched with 20th-century Goethe settings by Richard Strauss, Max Reger and Busoni. Irwin Gage was his accompanist. With pianist Karl Engel, a long-time collaborator, comes a concert with selections from Mahler’s Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit and 3 of the 5 Rückert-Lieder. The CD closes with 3 songs by Zoltán Kodály, performed with the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the composer.
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (photo © Siegfried Lauterwasser / DG)
The Kodály 2 Songs, Op. 5, are both songs setting poetry of death. The dramatic writing in Op. 5, No. 2, ‘Sírni, sírni, sírni’ (Cry, Cry, Cry), both for the voice and the orchestra, is unlike other songs on the CD. ‘Sírni, sírni, sírni’, setting a poem by Endre Ady, describes the feeling of the spectator at the approach of a coffin for a midnight funeral. Fischer-Dieskau, singing in Hungarian, evokes the dark night and the spectral stage for the funeral. Zoltán Kodály draws out a richly dramatic reading from the LSO.
Zoltán Kodály conducting
Zoltán Kodály: 2 Songs, Op. 5, K. 34 – No. 2, Sírni, sírni, sírni
CD two holds two special interviews with Jon Tolansky, one on his 75th birthday in 2000, and the other on his 80th birthday (2005). The interviews are complete and are the first releases of the material on CD. The first, nearly 45 minutes long, covers the singer’s earliest musical memories, his opera debut in Don Carlos, and other opera roles, his conducting career, teaching singing to pupils, and his painting. The 2005 interview, though shorter, starts with his early days as a singer, more of his opera roles, including Hans Sachs in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and his Berlin performance in the role.
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, ca 2022
The recordings come from both live recitals and concert recordings between 1960 and 1975. Fischer-Dieskau’s repertoire spanned the Baroque to the late 20th century in the genres of lieder, opera, cantata, and oratorio. He sang in many languages, including German, Italian, French, Russian, English, Hebrew, Hungarian, and Latin, although we know him best for his interpretation of German lieder.
Fischer-Dieskau’s command of the repertoire, the power and beauty of his voice, and the dramatic quality of his performances brought him to the peak of vocal music, both in lieder and opera. However, it was German lieder that he led the way both for his contemporaries but also those who followed.
This tribute CD gives us a different angle on a performer we think we know solely from his Romantic era lieder interpretations. The interviews give us the man behind the music and how he thought about his work. It’s an often eye-opening set of performances, and the interviews with a sympathetic reviewer draw out what went into making the artist.
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: A Centenary Tribute
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau; Gerald Moore, Irwin Gage, Karl Engel, piano; London Symphony Orchestra; Zoltán Kodály, cond.
SOMM Recordings, Ariadne 5038-2
Release date: 16 May 2025
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