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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incomparable!, 18 Nov 2005
If there is any music with which Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is more identified than 'Winterreise,' I don't know what it is. He sang it for the first time in public before he was even eighteen! (And that performance was interrupted by an air raid warning!) He recorded it many times; with ingenuity one can ferret out more than twenty recordings he made of the song cycle. Most of those were recorded off the air or recorded on the sly during a recital, but most have been in wide circulation. Of course, he also made commercial recordings, most notably with his long-time accompanist, Gerald Moore, and with the subtle accompanist, Jörg Demus. The latter recording, made in 1966, is my favorite of the studio-recorded versions I've heard. But we have, as far as I know, only one video recording of him doing 'Winterreise' and that's this one, in ver clear and rich stereo, recorded in January 1979 when he was 53 years old. His accompanist is one of the greatest pianists alive then or now, Alfred Brendel. And the recording of this performance, shot at the Siemensvilla, Berlin, is simply magnificent. FiDi is in ravishing voice and Brendel is an incredibly sensitive but in no way deferential accompanist. This is a true partnership of equals. What can one say about this performance? All the virtues are there, and as far as I can tell, no quibbles arise about the performance. Brendel is a fabulous accompanist. He and FiDi had performed the cycle several times before, and yet this is as fresh a performance as one could imagine. [There is, by the way, an hour-long bonus on this DVD of FiDi and Brendel rehearsing for this performance. Their conversation is, naturally, in German and unfortunately there are no subtitles for those who don't understand the language. Still, one can learn from how they work together, especially when they demonstrate -- Brendel in his croaky pianist's voice -- various points in their interpretation. There is a note in the booklet apologizing for their being no subtitles for the rehearsal film but 'it was virtually impossible to understand what was said in several places, thereby rendering any meaningful translation impracticable.' What about those many passages where the spoken German is perfectly understandable? Ah, well.] As always, when hearing Fischer-Dieskau sing 'Winterreise,' I was reduced to tears by the time we got to 'Der Leiermann.' This time, as early as 'Das Wirtshaus' my eyes began to leak. Fischer-Dieskau has just celebrated his 80th birthday. What more wonderful event, then, than for this video of 'Winterreise' to be released in the current medium of choice, DVD. Happy Birthday, FiDi! If you love Fischer-Dieskau's Schubert, you must own this DVD. Scott Morrison
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