Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, a musician whose artistry erased categorical boundaries, died last week at 86. In his appreciation of Fischer-Dieskau, New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini wrote of the great baritone’s “seemingly effortless mix of vocal beauty and verbal directness.†Here is a gem-like example of what Tommasini describedFischer-Dieskau and Sviatoslav Richter in 1978, having a great time with Franz Schubert’s “Fischerweise.â€
Fischer-Dieskau was perhaps the definitive interpreter of Schubert’s lieder masterpiece “Wintereisse.†To hear and see him with pianist Alfred Brendel in all 73 minutes of “Wintereisse,†go here.
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, RIP.