This DVD seems to have been released in 2013, the year after the great baritone’s death. On a single disc, it gives us two concerts in which he is accompanied by Hartmut Holl. Both took place before a live audience at the Nuremberg Opera House one year apart. The first, credited to 1991 when the singer was 66, was devoted entirely to the lieder of Schumann. It was an impressive program including some of the composer’s finest songs. As this is the first review, I will try to provide some details.
We start with 3 songs as follows:
1. Mein Wagen rollet langsam
2. Es leuchtet meine Liebe
3. Abende am Strand
They are not outstanding examples of the composer’s repertoire but they are well enough sung and played.
We then have all 12 songs comprising Liederkreis Op 24 that I will not enumerate individually. It is not my favourite Schumann cycle, being from his middle period. Some are a little dull, while others are quite beautiful, and they received ravishing performances on this occasion, notably the 1st---Im wunderschonen Monat Mai; the last ----Mit Myrthen und Rosen; No 8 ----Schone Wiege Meiner Leiden; and No 10 ------ Berg und Burgen schaun herunter. I have for comparison the first vinyl recording of this cycle made by Fischer-Dieskau in his youth, where the voice has so much more bloom to it, but in the present performance he seems to possess a deeper understanding of what he is singing about, resulting in more drama and insight that he ably communicates to the listener.
This is followed by Schumann’s greatest cycle, Dichterliebe Op 48, to poems by Heine. All 16 songs are sung with compelling artistry. Once again, I can make a comparison with the singer in his youth as I also own a vinyl of his first recording of the cycle. The voice is more beautiful, and more lyrical in the earlier recording, but there is a youthful rage as well that the older singer skillfully modulates to disappointment and resignation instead. Some of the songs are no more than brief declamations followed by extended piano solos: these contain some of Schumann’s finest writing for the keyboard, and they are beautifully played by Holl who was probably the singer’s youngest accompanist in a partnership covering the last 14 years of his professional life. I also have CD versions by Quasthoff who, well though he sings, is no match for Fischer Dieskau in the form he displays here; and by Wunderlich, whose gorgeous tenor singing is much more seductive, but who does not get under the skin of the text and music to the same extent.
This concert concludes with 5 encores, forced upon the receptive performers by an audience hysterical in its applause.
1. Du bist wie eine Blume ( perfectly sung and played)
2. Der Kontrabandiste (a splendid charicature performance from the singer)
3. Erstes Grun
4. Schone Fremde
5. Sitz ich allein
This adds up to 33 individual songs, not just a microcosm or bird’s eye picture of Schumann’s Lieder, but a huge slice of his output including many of his finest examples.
The 2nd concert is credited to 1992. It is a hodge-podge of 23 Schubert lieder, including the encores. It is completely unstructured, with no rhyme or reason underlying the choice, except one that I could think of: they were selected to prove to his admirers that Schubert was as capable as any of his peers of writing perfectly dull lieder. It was not until we reached the encores that I came across a song with which I was familiar. To add insult to injury, most seemed to demand rasping aggressive declamatory singing (at least that is what they got from Fischer Dieskau), certainly not his strong point at this stage of his career, when his voice is starting to fray at the edges. They offered little in the way of true melody, or the opportunity to display his beautiful sotto voce and legato singing that were the special pleasures of his Schumann concert a year earlier. The piano writing was also cruder than in the Schumann, and Holl came nowhere near the skill of Moore, Brendel or Schiff ------------- the baritone’s accompanist in other Schubert recitals in my possession -------- in persuading us what lovely music these accompaniments are in their own right, although here the fault may lie much more with the composer than the performer.
As you will never know what you are missing if you don’t buy the disc, here is the complete recital:
1. An Schwager Kronos
2. Hoffnung
3. Auf der Donau
4. Der Strom
5. Der wanderer
6. Die Gotter Griechenlands
7. Freiwillinger Versinken
8. Der Zwerg
9. Wehmut
10. Totengrabers Heimweh.
11. Auf der Bruck
12.Des Sangers Habe
13. Am Fenster
14. Fischerweise
15. Das Zugenglocklein
17. Des Fischers Liebesgluck
18. Die Sterne
19. Der Einsame
20. Aus ‘Heliopolis’ ll
21. Geheimes
22. Im Abendrot
23. Abschied
Only in the last two songs do we get anything close to the singer in his prime. Ironically, Abschied is the final song of the Schwanengesange cycle, and I have a hunch that this may have been Fischer Dieskau’s actual Swan Song.
And now we come to the tough part. It is doubtful if many lovers of vocal music will want to buy this disc. It has two major problems. The first is almost insuperable. There are no subtitles whatsoever, not even for the titles of the individual songs that are briefly shown in German. I find this inexplicable. There is not even a booklet containing translations that one can follow. All that lies within the box is a single sheet of paper with the titles of the songs in German alone; one side for the Schumann and the other for the Schubert. Fortunately, I have a large lieder collection, vinyls and CDs, and for the two Schumann Song Cycles I had notes and the backs of vinyl covers to consult, but this detracts greatly from one’s ability to follow what is happening on stage. The performances are beautifully filmed, and the expressiveness of FD’s facial responses to the music are fascinating to behold. The spell was partly broken when one had to fiddle around with sheets of paper to follow the words. Along the same lines, there is no way or regulating the sound (LCPM). Take it or leave it. I found it satisfactory on my system, but the timbre and tonality vary so much between the two concerts that there should have been a range of options. After all, this disc bears the date 2013. One had very good shots of the audience and the hall. The total running time for both concerts is 158 minutes. I can recommend the two Schumann cycles to anyone who is already familiar with them, or who is fluent in German (FD’s diction is always pure and clear), or who has the necessary translations via another source. There is no good reason to buy the Schubert. The ball is in your court!
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