Search - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau :: Great Emi Recordings

Since the 1950s, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has defined the art of lieder-singing. This 11-CD set brings together his landmark recordings for EMI, among them the song cycles of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf and Mahler. While his partnership with Gerald Moore forms its foundation, Richter, Sawallisch and Barenboim also number among his pianists in this collection, summed up by the title of the audio documentary that features as a bonus -- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: Song and Art. The eleventh CD contains ten special tracks that consist of extracts from two interviews famed producer Jon Tolansky had with Dietrch Fisher-Dieskau. While portions of the interviews have been published, a fair quantity of what appears on this disc has never been heard before. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was born in Berlin on May 28, 1925. To many, he was considered the greatest lieder-singer of the 20th century, setting new standards and influencing a whole generation. He was greatly admired for his interpretive insights and the note-perfect control of the tonal qualities and shadings of his voice. He was notable, too, for his exceptional rhythmic sense and incisive diction (sometimes, critics asserted, at the expense of an ideally smooth legato vocal line). Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau ended his more than 45 years of concert activity at the beginning of 1993. He made his unannounced farewell to public performance with his participation in a gala concert at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich on December 31, 1992. Since that time he has kept himself fully occupied as a teacher, conductor, reciter and author.