A tribute to the centenary – live recitals

The extraordinarily extensive repertoire of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau during his 45-year career encompassed lieder, operas, cantatas, and oratorios. He sang these in German, Italian, French, Russian, English, Hebrew, Hungarian, and Latin from eras ranging from the Baroque to the second half of the 20th century. Above all, the controlled power and beauty of his voice, as well as the dramatic intensity and poetry of his interpretations, led to his excellence in lieder singing.

Fischer-Dieskau was at the height of his creative powers from 1960 to 1975, and the recordings on this album all originate from this period. At the 1971 Helsinki Festival, Fischer-Dieskau, together with Irwin Gage, gave a recital that was dedicated exclusively to lieder with texts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The recital was described by a contemporary critic as "a milestone." Furthermore, this tribute includes six lieder from a program featuring works by Gustav Mahler, which he performed together with his long-time partner Karl Engel. The musical portion of this collection concludes with a concert performance of three lieder by Zoltán Kodály, which were naturally sung in Hungarian. The composer proves to be an outstanding interpreter of his own music by conducting the London Symphony Orchestra.

A bonus CD contains two interviews conducted by Jon Tolansky, appearing here in their entirety for the first time: an interview for his 75th birthday (2000) and an interview for his 80th birthday (2005)