The Very Best of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is the master when it comes to German song. He is the king when it comes to Lied (song) interpretation by any German composer from Gluck to Schubert to Wolf. Sure, people may prefer Fritz Wunderlich or newer greats like Thomas Quasthoff, but everybody must first hear Fischer-Dieskau's take on the song.

I received this CD as a Christmas gift, and was very excited to hear the quality of all the performances. Fischer-Dieskau's specialty is his Schubert Lieder, and his renditions are all fantastic-my favorites are Track 1, Die Schoene Mullerin, with its catchy accompaniment, Staendchen (Track 10), the serenade, and Du bist die Ruh (Track 11). Of course Erlking is a fan favorite, and FD's interpretation is fantastic.

Many people try to describe Fischer-Dieskau's style of interpretation and I find it quite difficult to explain. He has the ability to sing with a feeling of spontaneity, as if he is thinking and feeling the lyrics off the cuff, and yet technically each song is perfect, as if there is complete attention to detail.

The second CD contains excerpts from some of FD's opera/oratorio career, and some of the tracks are quite impressive. I personally prefer James Morris singing Wotan's Abschied by Wagner, but FD's version is extremely moving. FD is a bigger fish in the Lieder world than he is in the opera world, however (if the Lieder world is actually big enough to be a world--maybe just a region).

My take is that anybody who loves Fischer-Dieskau, German Lieder, or just good singing in general will be impressed and happy to own such a CD. I'm not familiar with all of FD's recordings (check it out, there are a lot) to know if these tracks really are HIS BEST, or if there are any glaring omissions, but I think everything on this CD is top-drawer.

How fortunate we are that a man like Fischer-Dieskau came along during the era of recorded sound. This CD is fantastic, and all music-lovers will approve.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is not only one of the most remarkable opera singers but probably the best performer of german lieder ever, and this double set of EMI's The Very Best series is it a vivid proof of it. His noble singing, impressive characterizations and powerful understanding of music is clearly portrayed here.

There is only one thing missing for perfection: Fischer-Dieskau's marvelous performance of Mozart music, absent in this set, but you can find high peaks: Schubert's Das Wandern, Die Forelle (always one of my favorite lieder), Brahms'Wiegenlied, Wagner's Die Frist ist um (chilling) and Verdi's Eri tu (sour mix of rage and sorrow).

I think it best to take two things from this very full two CD set to demonstrate the incredible artistry and longevity of this rare vocal artist. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau may not be to everyone's taste as either a lieder singer or an operatic baritone. But somewhere within the vocal repertoire there will be a role that will probably satisfy nearly every listener. I like most of his interpretations, although they spawned a huge number of imitators during his heyday. He sings lieder with a maximum of color, as displayed by piece one: "Erlkönig". This is certainly one of Schubert's top ten "hits" and has been given readings by singers such as Victoria de los Angeles, (chilling) Lotte Lehmann (stunning), Hans Hotter (gigantic/light), Alexander Kipnis (gigantic/dark) and of course the artist in question, Fischer-Dieskau whose interpretation is fully text dependent. This recording may come from 1951, and sounds its age in some ways. Thank goodness, though, EMI left this alone as far as adding any sort of reverberation to the original. While "vintage" certainly describes the sound, accurate does too when it comes to the many colors that the German baritone is able to find within the song's few short lines. While not as blazing as the bigger voiced versions, this interpretation has no real equal in creating the four characters of the narrator, the child, the father and the dreaded Erlkönig. I imagine critics of that era, upon first hearing this "crooning" style in light passages, disparaged the entire approach as being everything from tasteless to fraudulent. However, a huge worldwide audience would soon take exception to such criticism and the man became among the most recorded artists of any era. Fischer-Dieskau is a complete artist. I mean by that, everything in the singer's arsenal is put on the table. If the music says "piano" you get a REAL "piano". This goes right to the crux of the argument, which is that Fischer-Dieskau used falsetto for light, high lying passages. I'm not saying he doesn't, especially in this early version of ""Erlkönig". He barely touches on some of the child's notes, but then isn't that the point of the exercise?? The ends justify the means almost always with this singer. But volume is just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, he is capable of turning on a huge sound when he wants to. The question will always be, "when is that?" This brings me to excerpt two:

Wotan's Farewell, "Leb' Wohl", from Wagner's "Die Walküre" will surely raise an eyebrow or two from anyone just looking at what's to be found on the second CD. There is a full group of arias from Bach and Handel to Wagner and Verdi. But the Farewell is something that I never thought I would hear this singer attempt. He does so late in his career, no fool he. This recording comes from 1978 and is paired with "Die Frist ist Um" from `Der Fliegende Holländer". Both feature the Bayrischen Rundfunks conducted by the great maestro Rafael Kubelik. The conductor and singer are on a perfectly synchronized wave length when it comes to Wotan's twelve minute final scene. What is amazing to me is the rhythm and dynamics that both employ as the early phrases rise to a climax via a series of sequences. I know of no other singer who does this so well. I think it is safe to say that rhythm above all else is Fischer-Dieskau's strongest natural art. I know of others whom I like better in the part of Wotan, for sure. Hans Hotter would certainly be the first in that catagory. But even he cannot match the constant and measured give and take in volume that Fischer-Dieskau displays. While this may not be the Wotan one ultimately has in ones mind as ideal, this interpretation illustrates that the baritone is always able to make sense of what is in front of him. (There is one exception to this rule. That is French music. Fischer-Dieskau does none on this compilation and those few recordings of French oddities he did release expose an inability to master the liason of nasality and open sounds that is the essence of the language.)

I would finally add that the only other singer with this sort of lieder/opera versatility in the German wing would be Hans Hotter. (Hermann Prey is certainly a contender, but he never sang any heavy Wagner roles to my knowledge.) The difference between the Fischer-Dieskau and Hotter, however, is that of apples and oranges. The lighter baritone has a "mixed voice" that he must "open up" in order to make his operatic singing viable. With Hans Hotter just the opposite is true. The bass-baritone must reign in a gigantic sound and find the lightness of speech in his lieder singing. Is one better than the other? Well, that's a question I have finally chosen not to ask of these two artists. The reason is obvious; the answer will always be yes and no, or if you will no and yes.