Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (born 28 May 1925) is a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
lyric
baritoneBaritone is a type of classical male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek βαρύτονος, meaning 'deep sounding', music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second G below middle C to the F above...
singer and conductor of
classical musicClassical music is the mainstream music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times...
, one of the most famous
lied is a German word, meaning literally "song"; among English speakers, however, the word is used primarily as a term for European romantic music songs, also known as art songs...
er (
art songAn art song is a vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano or orchestral accompaniment. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the genre of such songs....
s) singers of his generation. He is greatly admired for his interpretive insight, note-perfect control of the tonal qualities and shadings of color in his voice, exceptional rhythmic sense and impeccable diction. Fischer-Dieskau has also performed and recorded many
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic roles.
His voice is a very high, light, reedy baritone (almost a tenor) with lots of gentle head-voice resonances. In spite of this, he performed and recorded many heroic-bass-baritone roles such as Wotan, Hans Sachs, Friedrich von Telramund, Amfortas, the Dutchman, Mandryga, Jokannan, and Orest. His stage-personality was invariably extremely intelligent and refined, even when he played stupid or childish characters like Papageno, Gunther, Falstaff, and Fritz Kothner the baker (
Die Meistersinger von NürnbergDie Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is one of the most popular operas in the repertory, and is among the longest still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches...
).
Early years
Albert Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was born in Berlin to Albert, a principal, and Dora, a teacher. He started singing as a child and began formal voice lessons at the age of sixteen. When he was drafted into the
WehrmachtWehrmacht was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe ....
in 1943, Fischer-Dieskau had just completed his secondary school studies and one semester at the Berlin Conservatory. He was captured in Italy in 1945 and spent two years as an American
prisoner of warA prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a combatant who is held in continuing custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. During that time, he sang lieder in POW camps to the homesick German soldiers.
Singing career
In 1947, he returned to Germany where he launched his professional career as a singer in
BadenweilerBadenweiler, a health resort and spa of the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, historically in the Markgräflerland. It is 28 kilometers by road and rail from Basel, 10 kilometers from the French border, and 20 kilometes away from Mulhouse...
when he sang in
BrahmsJohannes Brahms , German composer and pianist, was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
'
Ein Deutsches Requiem without any rehearsal—he was a last-minute substitute for a singer who was indisposed. He gave his first lieder recital in
LeipzigLeipzig is, with a population of 515,459, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany.-Origins:Leipzig's name is derived from the Slavic word Lipsk, which means "settlement where the lime trees stand"....
in the autumn of 1947 and followed it soon afterwards with a highly successful first concert at Berlin's Titania-Palast.
Early in his career he collaborated with
Elisabeth SchwarzkopfDame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, DBE was a German-born Austrian/British opera singer and recitalist. She was amongst the most renowned and beautiful opera singers of the 20th Century, much admired for her performances of Mozart, Strauss and Hugo Wolf.-Early life:Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike...
,
Irmgard SeefriedIrmgard Seefried was a distinguished German soprano who sang opera and lieder....
, and recording-media expert
Walter LeggeWalter Legge was an influential British classical record producer, most notably for EMI....
, producing instantly-successful albums of lieder by Schubert and
Hugo WolfHugo Wolf was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, somewhat related to that of the Second Viennese School in concision but utterly unrelated in...
.
In the fall of 1948, Fischer-Dieskau was engaged as principal lyric baritone at the
Berlin State OperaStaatsoper Unter den Linden is a prominent German opera company. Its permanent home is the Opera House on the Unter den Linden boulevard in Berlin.-Early years:...
, making his debut as Posa in
VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's
Don CarlosDon Carlos is a five-act Grand Opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
under
Ferenc FricsayFerenc Fricsay was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen.Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ernst von Dohnányi, and Leo Weiner. Fricsay had a meteoric rise to fame, making his first appearance as a...
. Subsequently, Fischer-Dieskau made guest appearances at the opera houses in
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
and
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
. After 1949 he made concert tours in the Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Italy. In 1951, he made his
Salzburg FestivalThe Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
concert debut with
MahlerGustav Mahler was a Bohemian-born Austrian composer and conductor. He was best known during his own lifetime as one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of the day...
's
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer)Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen is Gustav Mahler's first song cycle. While he had previously written other lieder, they were grouped by source of text or time of composition as opposed to common theme...
under
Wilhelm FurtwänglerWilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer, widely considered one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century.-Biography :...
. That year, he also made his British debut, at the
Royal Albert HallThe Royal Albert Hall is an arts venue situated in the Knightsbridge area of the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
during the
Festival of BritainThe Festival of Britain was a national exhibition which opened in London and around Britain in May 1951. The official opening was on 3 May. The principal exhibition site was on the South Bank Site, London of the River Thames near Waterloo Station...
. He appeared in
Frederick DeliusFrederick Albert Theodore Delius CH was an English composer.- Life :Frederick Delius was born in Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the north of England. His parents were German: Julius and Elise Pauline Delius had moved from Bielefeld, Germany to Britain to set themselves up in the wool...
's
A Mass of Life, conducted by Sir
Thomas BeechamSir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH was a British conductor and impresario. From the early twentieth century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain and, according to Neville Cardus, was the first British conductor to have a regular international career.From...
. He made regular opera appearances at the
Bayreuth FestivalThe Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
between 1954 and 1961 and at the
Salzburg FestivalThe Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
from 1956 until the early 1970s.
As an opera singer, Fischer-Dieskau performed mainly at Berlin and at the
Bavarian State OperaThe Bayerische Staatsoper is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:...
in
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
. He also made guest appearances at the
Vienna State OperaThe Vienna State Opera is an opera house — and opera company — with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera ; in 1920, it was renamed the Vienna State Opera...
, at the
Royal Opera HouseThe Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in the London district of Covent Garden. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal...
, Covent Garden in London, at the
Hamburg State OperaThe Hamburg State Opera is one of the leading opera companies in Germany.Opera in Hamburg dates back to 2 January 1678 when the "Opern-Theatrum" was inaugurated with a performance of a biblical Singspiel by Johann Theile...
, in Japan, and at the King's Theatre in
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
during the
Edinburgh FestivalEdinburgh Festival is a collective term for several simultaneous arts and cultural festivals that take place during August each year in Edinburgh, Scotland...
. His first tour in the United States took place in 1955, when he was 29, with his concert debut in Cincinnati on 15 April (
J. S. BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's
Kreuzstab cantataA cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment and often containing more than one movement.-Historical context:...
) and 16 April (
Ein Deutsches Requiem). His American lieder debut, singing
Franz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
songs, took place in
Saint Paul, MinnesotaSaint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the north bank of the Mississippi River, downstream of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
, on 19 April. His New York City debut occurred on 2 May at
The Town HallThe Town Hall is a performance space located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, in New York City, New York. It seats 1,500 people.- History :...
, where he sang Schubert's
song cycleA song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...
WinterreiseWinterreise is a cycle of 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller, best known as the song cycle set for male voice and piano by Franz Schubert . It is the second of Schubert's two great song cycles on Müller's poems, the earlier being Die schöne Müllerin...
without intermission. Both American recitals were accompanied by
Gerald MooreGerald Moore CBE was an English pianist best known for his career as one of the most in-demand accompanists of his day, accompanying many of the world's most famous musicians...
.
In 1951, Fischer-Dieskau made his first recordings of lieder with Gerald Moore, at
EMIThe EMI Group is a British music company. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major publishing arm- EMI Music Publishing- based in New York City...
Studios, London. They performed publicly until Moore retired from public performance in 1967. They continued to record together until 1972, in which year they completed their massive project of recording all of the Schubert lieder appropriate for the male voice. Gerald Moore retired completely in 1972, and died in 1987, aged 87. Their recordings of
Die schöne MüllerinDie schöne Müllerin , is a song cycle by Franz Schubert on poems by Wilhelm Müller. It is the earliest extended song cycle to be widely performed. The work is considered one of Schubert's most important, and it is widely performed and recorded....
and
Winterreise are highly prized.
Fischer-Dieskau also performed many works of
contemporary music20th-century classical music developed or reacted to the trends started in the previous century. At the turn of the century, music was characteristically late Romantic in style, while at the same time the Impressionist movement, spearheaded by Claude Debussy, was being developed in France...
, including
Benjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, violist and pianist.-Life:...
,
Samuel BarberSamuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is among his most popular compositions and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music....
,
Hans Werner HenzeHans Werner Henze is a German composer well known for his left-wing political convictions. He left Germany for Italy in 1953 because of a perceived intolerance towards his politics and homosexuality...
,
Ernst KrenekErnst Krenek was an Austrian and—from 1945—American composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now , a study of Johannes Ockeghem , and Horizons Circled: Reflections on my Music .- Life :Krenek was born in Vienna as the son of a...
, Witold Lutosławski,
Siegfried MatthusSiegfried Matthus is a German composer and opera director living in Berlin and is Germany's most often performed contemporary composer.-Biography:...
,
Winfried ZilligWinfried Zillig was a German composer, music theorist, and conductor.Zillig was born in Würzburg. After leaving school, Zillig studied law and music. One of his teachers there was Hermann Zilcher. In Vienna he was a private pupil of Arnold Schönberg, later following him to Berlin...
,
Gottfried von EinemGottfried von Einem was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ....
and
Aribert ReimannAribert Reimann is a German opera composer, pianist and accompanist. His version of King Lear was written at the suggestion of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau who sang the title role.-Biography:...
.
Beyond his recordings of lieder and German repertoire, Fischer-Dieskau also recorded interesting performances in the Italian operatic repertoire. His recordings as
RigolettoRigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
alongside
Renata ScottoRenata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the belcanto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi...
and
Carlo BergonziCarlo Bergonzi is an Italian operatic tenor. Although he performed and recorded some bel canto and verismo roles, he is above all associated with the operas of Giuseppe Verdi, including a large number of the composer's lesser-known works that he helped revive...
and also Rodrigo in Verdi's
Don CarlosDon Carlos is a five-act Grand Opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
are probably the most respected of these ventures. Both these recordings, made right at the peak of his career, are very fine indeed (comparable to performances of the quality shown by
Tito Gobbi-Biography:Tito Gobbi was born in Bassano del Grappa and studied law at the University of Padua before he trained as a singer. Giulio Crimi , a well-known Italian tenor of a previous generation, was Gobbi's teacher in Rome. He made his operatic debut in Gubbio in 1935 as Count Rudolfo in Bellini's...
or
Giuseppe TaddeiGiuseppe Taddei is an Italian baritone, performing mainly in operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi.Taddei was born in Genoa, Italy, and studied in Rome, where he made his professional debut in 1936 as the Herald in Lohengrin. He sang at the Rome Opera until he was conscripted into...
at their peak ). Other roles such as the title role in Verdi's
MacbethMacbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name...
alongside
Elena SouliotisElena Souliotis was an operatic soprano initially hailed as "the next Callas." Although her opera recordings were best sellers and she quickly achieved a glamorous and busy career, unwisely, she took on certain demanding roles too early, and damaged her voice by denying it the time it needed to...
, Giorgio Germont in
La traviataLa traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on the novel La dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, published in 1848. The title "La traviata" means literally The Woman Who Strayed, or perhaps more figuratively, The...
, and Scarpia in
Giacomo PucciniGiacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's
ToscaTosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Victorien Sardou's drama, La Tosca. The work premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on January 14 1900. It is one of the world's most popular operas, a hit with audiences...
with
Birgit NilssonBirgit Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic and symphonic works...
, and are not often as successful, showing insight and inventiveness but lacking somewhat in idiomatic Mediterranean vocal colour or temperament - perhaps seeming too Germanic. However, as with
Elisabeth SchwarzkopfDame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, DBE was a German-born Austrian/British opera singer and recitalist. She was amongst the most renowned and beautiful opera singers of the 20th Century, much admired for her performances of Mozart, Strauss and Hugo Wolf.-Early life:Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike...
and
Maria Callas Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the twentieth century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique with great dramatic gifts...
, Fisher-Dieskau's performances always seem thought out and are often true to the score. Fischer-Dieskau retired from opera in 1978, the year he recorded his final opera, Aribert Reimann's "Lear."
Fischer-Dieskau retired from the concert hall in 1992 and dedicated himself to conducting, teaching (especially lieder), painting, writing books, etc.
In a 1999 "Top Singers of the Century" critics' poll compiled by British Classic CD magazine, Fischer-Dieskau came second, behind
Jussi BjörlingJohan Jonatan was a Swedish operatic tenor...
.
He is an honorary member of the
Robert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic...
Society.
Personal life
In 1949, Fischer-Dieskau married the cellist Irmgard Poppen. Together they had three sons: Mathias (stage designer),
MartinMartin Fischer-Dieskau is a German conductor, currently Music Director-Designate of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra. - Early life :...
(conductor), and Manuel (cellist). Irmgard died in 1963 of complications following childbirth. Afterwards, Fischer-Dieskau was married to the actress
Ruth LeuwerikRuth Leuwerik is a German film actress. She appeared in 34 films between 1950 and 1977.She was born in Essen, Germany.-External links:...
from 1965 to 1967 and Christina Pugel-Schule from 1968 to 1975. Since 1977 he has been married to the soprano
Julia VaradyJúlia Várady is a German soprano of Hungarian origin born in Nagyvárad, Hungary ....
.
As singer
Fischer Dieskau recorded mainly on the labels EMI, DG and ORFEO.
- Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, Cantatas, with Karl RichterKarl Richter was a German conductor, organist, and harpsichordist. He was born in Plauen and studied first in Dresden, where he was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor and later in Leipzig, where he received his degree in 1949. In the same year, he became organist at St...
on the Polygram label
- Bach, Jesus and bass parts in the Passions under a wide host of conductors, e.g. Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor and one of the most renowned conductors in music history. His obituary in The New York Times described him as "probably the world's best-known conductor and one of the most powerful figures in classical music." Karajan conducted...
, Otto KlempererOtto Klemperer was a German-born conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.-Biography:...
, Wilhelm FurtwänglerWilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer, widely considered one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century.-Biography :...
and Karl Richter
- Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist, considered to be one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, and regarded, along with Liszt, as his country's greatest composer...
, Bluebeard's CastleDuke Bluebeard's Castle is a one-act opera by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. The libretto was written by Béla Balázs, a poet and friend of the composer...
, with Ferenc FricsayFerenc Fricsay was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen.Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ernst von Dohnányi, and Leo Weiner. Fricsay had a meteoric rise to fame, making his first appearance as a...
- Bartók, Bluebeard's Castle, with Wolfgang Sawallisch
Wolfgang Sawallisch is a German conductor and pianist.-Biography:Sawallisch was born in Munich, and studied there privately for composition and pianoforte: at the conclusion of the war, in 1946 he continued his studies at the Munich High School for Music and passed his final examination for...
- Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
, FidelioFidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux...
, with Fricsay
- Beethoven, Fidelio, with Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
- Brahms
Johannes Brahms , German composer and pianist, was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, Ein Deutsches Requiem, with Rudolf KempeRudolf Kempe was a German conductor.- Biography :Kempe was born in Dresden, where from the age of fourteen he studied at the Dresden State Opera School. He played oboe in the opera orchestra at Dortmund and then in the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra, from 1929...
- Brahms, Ein deutsches Requiem, with Otto Klemperer and the Philharmonia Orchestra on the Angel label
- Brahms, Liebeslieder Walzer
Liebeslieder Walzer is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Johannes Brahms' Liebeslieder, op. 52, 1869, and Neue Liebeslieder, op. 65, 1874, waltzes for piano duet and vocal quartet, set to poems by Daumer and Goethe...
on the Deutsche Grammophon label
- Brahms, Vier ernste Gesänge, lieder, with Jörg Demus
Jörg Demus is an Austrian pianist.At the age of six, Demus received his first piano lessons. Five years later, at the age of 11, he entered the Vienna Academy of Music, studying piano and conducting. He graduated in 1945, then 17 years old...
, piano on the Deutsche Grammophon label
- Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, violist and pianist.-Life:...
, War RequiemThe War Requiem, Op. 66 is a large-scale, non-liturgical setting of the Requiem Mass composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed January 1962. Interspersed with the traditional Latin texts are pasted, collage-like, settings of Wilfred Owen poems...
, Benjamin Britten conducting, with Galina VishnevskayaGalina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya is a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966.-Biography:...
and Sir Peter PearsSir Peter Neville Luard Pears was an English tenor and life-long partner of the composer Benjamin Britten....
- Busoni
Ferruccio Dante Michelangiolo Benvenuto Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...
, Doktor FaustDoktor Faust is an opera by Ferruccio Busoni with a libretto by the composer himself based on the myth of Faust. Busoni worked on the opera, which he intended as his masterpiece, between 1916 and 1924, but it was still incomplete at the time of his death. His pupil Philipp Jarnach finished the...
, conductor Ferdinand LeitnerFerdinand Leitner was a German conductor. Leitner studied under Franz Schreker, Julius Prüwer, Artur Schnabel and Karl Muck. He also was a composition student with Robert Kahn. Starting as a pianist, through the help of Fritz Busch, he became a conductor in the 1930s...
- Cimarosa
Domenico Cimarosa was an Italian opera composer of the Neapolitan school. He wrote more than eighty operas during his lifetime, including his masterpiece, Il matrimonio segreto .-Early life and education:...
, The Secret MarriageIl matrimonio segreto is an opera in two acts, music by Domenico Cimarosa, on a libretto by Giovanni Bertati, based on the play The Clandestine Marriage by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick...
, with Daniel BarenboimDaniel Barenboim is an Argentinian-born pianist and conductor. He lives in Berlin and holds citizenship in Argentina, Israel, and Spain. He also holds a passport issued by the Palestinian Authority. Barenboim first came to prominence as a pianist but is now perhaps better known as a conductor...
- Debussy
Achille-Claude Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of Impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
, Mélodies, with Hartmut Höll, piano, recorded 1988 for Claves Records, available in 2006 on Brilliant Classics
- Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist, and teacher. He was the foremost French composer of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
, RequiemGabriel Fauré composed his Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 between 1887 and 1890. This choral–orchestral setting of the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead is the best known of his large works. The most famous movement is the soprano aria Pie Jesu...
, Op. 48 under André CluytensAndré Cluytens was a Belgian-born French conductor.-Career:He was born in Antwerp to a musical family. At age nineteen he graduated from the Royal Flemish Conservatory with first prizes in piano, harmony, counterpoint, and fugue. His father Alphonse was conductor of the Antwerp Opera , and he...
on EMI
- Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
, Orpheus ed Eurydice with Karl Richter
- Gluck, Iphigenie in Aulis with Arthur Rother
- Haydn
Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer. He was one of the most important, prolific and prominent composers of the classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these genres...
, The Creation, with Herbert von Karajan
- Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a Bohemian-born Austrian composer and conductor. He was best known during his own lifetime as one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of the day...
, Das Lied von der ErdeDas Lied von der Erde is a large-scale work for two vocal soloists and orchestra by the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler...
, with Leonard Bernstein and the New York PhilharmonicThe New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
- Mahler, Lieder, with Daniel Barenboim, piano, on the EMI label
- Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen is Gustav Mahler's first song cycle. While he had previously written other lieder, they were grouped by source of text or time of composition as opposed to common theme...
and Des Knaben WunderhornDes Knaben Wunderhorn is a collection of German folk poems edited by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano, and published in Heidelberg, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, between 1805 and 1808...
, with Daniel Barenboim, piano, on the Sony label
- Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Kindertotenlieder
Kindertotenlieder is a song cycle for voice and orchestra by Gustav Mahler. The words of the songs are poems by Friedrich Rückert.-Text and music:...
with orchestra, with Wilhelm Furtwängler and Rudolf Kempe, on the EMI label
- Mahler, Kindertotenlieder, with Karl Böhm
Karl August Leopold Böhm was an Austrian conductor.-Biography:Born in Graz, Austria, Böhm studied law and earned a doctorate on this subject. He later studied music at the Graz Conservatory. On the recommendation of Karl Muck, Bruno Walter engaged him at Munich's Bavarian State Opera in 1921...
- Mahler, Rückert-Lieder
The Rückert-Lieder are 5 songs for voice and orchestra or piano by Gustav Mahler, based on poems written by Friedrich Rückert.They are:# Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder! − Do not look at my songs!...
, on the Deutsche Grammophon label
- Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born, and generally known in English-speaking countries, as Felix Mendelssohn was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period....
, Lieder, with Harmut Holl, piano, recorded 1989 and 1991 for Claves Records, available in 2006 on Brilliant Classics
- Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
and Haydn Discoveries, with Reinhard Peters and the Vienna Haydn Orchestra on the Decca label
- Mozart, The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder...
with Ferenc Fricsay
- Mozart, The Magic Flute, with Karl Böhm
- Mozart, The Magic Flute, with Georg Solti (as the Sprecher)
- Mozart, The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by Beaumarchais was at first banned in Vienna...
, with Karl Böhm
- Mozart, The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by Beaumarchais was at first banned in Vienna...
, with Ferenc Fricsay
- Mozart, Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered in the Estates Theatre in Prague on October 29, 1787...
, with Ferenc Fricsay
- Mozart, Don Giovanni, with Karl Böhm
- Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his oratorio Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
, Carmina BuranaCarmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff between 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana...
, with Eugen JochumEugen Jochum was an eminent German conductor.Born in Babenhausen, near Augsburg, Germany, Jochum studied the piano and organ in Augsburg until 1922. He then studied conducting in Munich...
and the Chor und Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin on the Deutsche Grammophon label
- Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
, ToscaTosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Victorien Sardou's drama, La Tosca. The work premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on January 14 1900. It is one of the world's most popular operas, a hit with audiences...
, with Birgit NilssonBirgit Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic and symphonic works...
, as well as excerpts in German with Anja SiljaAnja Silja Regina Langwagen, born April 17, 1940, in Berlin, is a German soprano who is known for her great abilities as a singing-actress and for the vastness of her repertoire....
, on Decca Records
- Reimann
Aribert Reimann is a German opera composer, pianist and accompanist. His version of King Lear was written at the suggestion of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau who sang the title role.-Biography:...
, Lear, with the Bavarian State OrchestraThe Bayerisches Staatsorchester is the orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera.- History :Founded in the times of Ludwig Senfl the orchestra, specialized in musica sacra, belonged to the finest ones in Europe already under Orlando di Lasso . In 1651 the Italian opera was introduced in Munich...
on the Polygram label
- Schoeck
Othmar Schoeck was a Swiss composer and conductor.He was known mainly for his considerable output of art songs and song cycles, though he also wrote a number of operas and instrumental compositions including two string quartets and...
, Lebendig begraben, with Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, on the Deutsche Grammophon label
- Schoeck, Notturno, five movements für voice and string quartet, on EMI Classics
- Schoeck, Lieder, with Margrit Weber (piano) and Karl Engel
Karl Engel was a Swiss pianist.In 1952 Engel was awarded the second prize at the Queen Elisabeth competition. Throughout his concert career he cultivated the art song repertory and worked extensively on works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Robert Schumann...
(piano), on the Deutsche Grammophon label
- Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
, Deutsche Messe, with Wolfgang SawallischWolfgang Sawallisch is a German conductor and pianist.-Biography:Sawallisch was born in Munich, and studied there privately for composition and pianoforte: at the conclusion of the war, in 1946 he continued his studies at the Munich High School for Music and passed his final examination for...
and the Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks on the Capitol label
- Schubert, Winterreise
Winterreise is a cycle of 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller, best known as the song cycle set for male voice and piano by Franz Schubert . It is the second of Schubert's two great song cycles on Müller's poems, the earlier being Die schöne Müllerin...
, with Gerald MooreGerald Moore CBE was an English pianist best known for his career as one of the most in-demand accompanists of his day, accompanying many of the world's most famous musicians...
, piano, on the Deutsche Grammophon label
- Schubert, Die Winterreise, with Jörg Demus
Jörg Demus is an Austrian pianist.At the age of six, Demus received his first piano lessons. Five years later, at the age of 11, he entered the Vienna Academy of Music, studying piano and conducting. He graduated in 1945, then 17 years old...
, piano, on the Deutsche Grammophon label
- Schubert, Die schöne Müllerin
Die schöne Müllerin , is a song cycle by Franz Schubert on poems by Wilhelm Müller. It is the earliest extended song cycle to be widely performed. The work is considered one of Schubert's most important, and it is widely performed and recorded....
, with Gerald Moore, piano, on the Angel label
- Schubert, Lieder, with Gerald Moore, piano on the Deutsche Grammophon label
- Schubert, Missa Solemnis and Masses in C major and E flat major, with Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on the EMI label
- Schubert, Schwanengesang
Schwanengesang is the title of a posthumous collection of songs by Franz Schubert.Unlike the earlier Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, it uses poems by two poets, Ludwig Rellstab and Heinrich Heine...
, with Gerald Moore, piano on the EMI label
- Schubert, Lieder, with Harmut Holl, piano, recorded 1987 for Claves Records, available in 2006 on Brilliant Classics
- Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic...
, DichterliebeDichterliebe, 'The Poet's Love' , is the best-known song cycle of Robert Schumann . The texts for the 16 songs come from the Lyrisches Intermezzo of Heinrich Heine, composed 1822-1823, published as part of the poet's Das Buch der Lieder. Following the song-cycles of Franz Schubert , those of...
, LiederkreisLiederkreis, op. 39 is a song cycle by composed by Robert Schumann. The poetry for this cycle was taken from Joseph Eichendorff's collection of poetry called Intermezzo. Schumann wrote two cycles of this name—the other being his opus 24—so this work is also known as the Eichendorff Liederkreis...
, and others with Christoph EschenbachChristoph Eschenbach is a German pianist and conductor.-Early life:Eschenbach's parents were Margarethe and Heribert Ringmann. He was orphaned during World War II. As a result of the trauma, he did not speak for a year, until he was asked if he wanted to play music...
, piano, on the Deutsche Grammophon label
- Schumann, Liederkreis, with Gerald Moore, piano, on the EMI label
- Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Russian composer of the Soviet period and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Suite on Verses of Michelangelo BuonarrotiMichelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer...
and Four Verses of Captain Lebyadkin, with Vladimir AshkenazyVladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian conductor and virtuoso pianist. He has been a citizen of Iceland, the home of his wife Þórunn, since 1972 and currently lives with his family in Switzerland.- Early life :...
and the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin on the Polygram label
- Shostakovich, Symphony No. 14
The Symphony No. 14 by Dmitri Shostakovich was completed in the spring of 1969, and was premiered later that year. It is a sombre work for soprano, bass and a small string orchestra with percussion, consisting of eleven linked settings of poems by four authors. Most of the poems deal with the...
with Bernard HaitinkBernard Johan Herman Haitink CH KBE is a Dutch conductor and violinist.-Early life:Haitink was born in Amsterdam, the son of Willem Haitink and Anna Haitink. He studied music at the conservatoire in Amsterdam...
and the Concertgebouw OrchestraThe Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a symphony orchestra of the Netherlands, based at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In 1988, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred the "Royal" title upon the orchestra...
on the Decca label
- Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, particularly of operas, Lieder and tone poems...
, ElektraElektra is a one-act opera by Richard Strauss, to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal adapted from his drama of 1903—the first of many such collaborations between composer and librettist...
, with Karl Böhm
- Strauss, Arabella
Arabella is a lyric comedy or opera in 3 acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. It was first performed on 1 July 1933, at the Dresden Sächsisches Staatstheater...
, with Joseph KeilberthJoseph Keilberth was a German conductor.He started his career in the State Theatre of his native city, Karlsruhe. In 1940 he became director of the German Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague. Near the end of World War II he became principal conductor of the Dresden Staatskapelle...
- Strauss, Die Frau ohne Schatten
Die Frau ohne Schatten is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. When the work premiered in Vienna on 10 October 1919, critics and audiences were unenthusiastic...
- Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
, Un ballo in mascheraUn ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The opera's first production was at the Teatro Apollo, Rome, 17 February 1859....
(in German language), with Fritz BuschFritz Busch was a German conductor.Busch was born in Siegen, Province of Westphalia. He held posts conducting opera at Aachen, Stuttgart and Dresden. In 1933 he was dismissed from his post at Dresden because of his opposition to the new Nazi government of Germany...
- Verdi, La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on the novel La dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, published in 1848. The title "La traviata" means literally The Woman Who Strayed, or perhaps more figuratively, The...
, with Lorin MaazelLorin Varencove Maazel is a conductor, violinist and composer.- Early life :Maazel was born to Jewish-American parents in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France and brought up in the United States...
- Verdi, Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's second to last opera and is considered by many to be his greatest. It was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887...
- Verdi, Falstaff
Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...
, with Leonard Bernstein
- Verdi, Macbeth
Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name...
, with Elena SouliotisElena Souliotis was an operatic soprano initially hailed as "the next Callas." Although her opera recordings were best sellers and she quickly achieved a glamorous and busy career, unwisely, she took on certain demanding roles too early, and damaged her voice by denying it the time it needed to...
- Verdi, Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
with Rafael KubelíkRafael Jeroným Kubelík was a Czech conductor and composer.-Biography:Kubelík was born in Býchory, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, today's Czech Republic...
and the La Scala Orchestra on the Deutsche Grammophon label
- Verdi, Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act Grand Opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
, in German, with Ferenc FricsayFerenc Fricsay was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen.Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ernst von Dohnányi, and Leo Weiner. Fricsay had a meteoric rise to fame, making his first appearance as a...
and Josef GreindlJosef Greindl was a German bass.Josef Greindl studied at the Munich Music Academy with Paul Bender. His debut was in 1936, as Hunding in Wagner's Die Walküre in the State Theatre in Krefeld. He is remembered mainly for his performances in Wagner at Bayreuth, from 1943 onwards...
, 1948 (his operatic debut)
- Verdi, Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act Grand Opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
, in Italian, with Georg SoltiSir Georg Solti, KBE was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor. He holds the record for having received the most Grammy awards, having personally won 31, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.- Early career :Solti was born György Stern in Budapest to a Jewish family; his...
- Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas...
, Die Meistersinger von NürnbergDie Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is one of the most popular operas in the repertory, and is among the longest still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches...
, as Hans Sachs, with Eugen Jochum and the Berliner Staatsopernorchester on the Deutsche Grammophon label
- Wagner, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is one of the most popular operas in the repertory, and is among the longest still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches...
, as Fritz Kothner the baker, with Andre Clutyens, at Bayreuth, 1956
- Wagner, Lohengrin
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
with Rudolf Kempe (EMI), as Friedrich von Telramund
- Wagner, Lohengrin, with Eugen Jochum (Conductor), Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, 1954, as the Heerrufer
- Wagner, The Flying Dutchman
Der fliegende Holländer is an opera, with music and libretto by Richard Wagner. The story comes from the legend of the Flying Dutchman, about a ship captain condemned to sail until Judgment Day....
, with Franz KonwitschnyFranz Konwitschny was a German conductor and violist.He started his career on the viola, playing in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtwängler. In 1925, he moved to Vienna, where he played the viola with the Fitzner Quartet. He also began teaching at the Wiener Volkskonservatorium...
(EMI)
- Wagner, Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two Germanic legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
, with Franz Konwitschny (EMI)
- Wagner, Das Rheingold
Das Rheingold is the first of the four operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
, with Herbert von Karajan (DG)
- Wagner, Götterdämmerung
is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas entitled Der Ring des Nibelungen . It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 17 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of the Ring....
, with Georg SoltiSir Georg Solti, KBE was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor. He holds the record for having received the most Grammy awards, having personally won 31, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.- Early career :Solti was born György Stern in Budapest to a Jewish family; his...
and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on the Decca label
- Wagner, Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg...
, with Wilhelm FurtwänglerWilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer, widely considered one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century.-Biography :...
- Wagner, Tristan und Isolde, with Carlos Kleiber
Carlos Kleiber was an Austrian conductor.- Early career :Kleiber was born as Karl Ludwig Kleiber in Berlin, the son of the Austrian conductor Erich Kleiber and Ruth Goodrich, an American.. In 1935, the Kleiber family emigrated to Buenos Aires, after Erich Kleiber had resigned his post at the...
- Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
, Lieder, with Hartmut Höll, piano, recorded 1991 for Claves Records, available in 2006 on Brilliant Classics
- Wolf
Hugo Wolf was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, somewhat related to that of the Second Viennese School in concision but utterly unrelated in...
, Fruhe Lieder, with Hartmut Höll, piano, recorded 1986 for Claves Records, available in 2006 on Brilliant Classics
On video
- Schubert, "Winterreise
Winterreise is a cycle of 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller, best known as the song cycle set for male voice and piano by Franz Schubert . It is the second of Schubert's two great song cycles on Müller's poems, the earlier being Die schöne Müllerin...
", recorded July 1990, with Murray Perahia (piano), from Sony Classical.
- Mozart, Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered in the Estates Theatre in Prague on October 29, 1787...
, Deutsche Oper Berlin, with Ferenc Fricsay, live performance in German, recorded September 24, 1961. Cast includes Pilar Lorengar, Elisabeth Grummer, Walther Berry, Erika Koth, Donald Grobe, and Josef Greindl.
- Strauss (Richard), Mahler, and Schubert: "Schwarzkopf, Seefried, and Fischer-Dieskau", a DVD from EMI Classics. Includes Schwarzkopf playing the Marschallin and Fischer-Dieskau singing "Das Erlkonig".
As conductor
- Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande Messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation...
, Harold in Italy with violistThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position...
Josef SukJosef Suk may refer to:*Josef Suk *Josef Suk , the elder composer's grandson...
and the Czech Philharmonic OrchestraThe Česká filharmonie is a symphony orchestra based in Prague and is the best-known and most respected orchestra in the Czech Republic.- History :...
on the Supraphon label
- Brahms, Symphony No. 4
The Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 by Johannes Brahms is the last of his symphonies. It is a lushly romantic, lyric piece and is considered by many to be his magnum opus, along with Ein deutsches Requiem....
, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra on the Supraphon label
- Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde
- Richard Strauss, Arias from Salomé
Salome , the Daughter of Herodias , is known from the New Testament...
, Ariadne auf NaxosAriadne auf Naxos is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal.- Versions :The opera as originally conceived was to be a thirty-minute divertissement to be performed at the end of Hofmannsthal's adaptation of Molière's play Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme...
, Die Liebe der DanaeDie Liebe der Danae is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Joseph Gregor, after an outline by Hugo Hofmannsthal written in the 1920s...
, and CapriccioCapriccio is the final opera by German composer Richard Strauss, subtitled "A Conversation Piece for Music". The opera received its premiere performance at the Nationaltheater München on October 28, 1942. Clemens Krauss and Strauss himself wrote the German libretto...
, with Julia VaradyJúlia Várady is a German soprano of Hungarian origin born in Nagyvárad, Hungary ....
and the Bamberg Symphony OrchestraThe Bamberg Symphony is a german orchestra based in Bamberg. The orchestra was formed in 1346 mainly from German musicians expelled from Czechoslovakia under the Beneš decrees, who had previously been members of the German Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague...
on the Orfeo label
Books
- The Fischer-Dieskau Book of Lieder: The Original Texts of over 750 Songs, translated by Richard Stokes and George Bird. Random House, 1977. (ISBN 0-394-49435-0)
- Reverberations: The Memoirs of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, translated by Ruth Hein. Fromm International, 1989. (ISBN 0-88064-137-1)
- Robert Schumann Words and Music: The Vocal Compositions, translated by Reinhard G. Pauly. Hal Leonard, 1992. (ISBN 0-931340-06-3)
- Schubert's Songs: A Biographical Study. Alfred A. Knopf, 1977. (ISBN 0-394-48048-1)
- Wagner and Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th- century German philosopher and classical philologist. He wrote critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science, using a distinctive German-language style and displaying a fondness for metaphor, irony and...
, translated by Joachim Neugroschel. Continuum International, 1976.
Further reading
- Neunzig, Hans A. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Trans. Kenneth S Whitton. Gerald Duckworth & Co, 1998. (ISBN 0-7156-2818-6)
- Whitton, Kenneth S. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: Mastersinger Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1981. (ISBN 0-8419-0728-5)
External links