For most of us, it is Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's singing voice
that captured our interest and attention. And for those whose
music listening takes place outside of Germany, opportunities
to hear Fischer-Dieskau speak have been-- and remain-- few. Nevertheless,
some recorded documents of Fischer-Dieskau as a speaker made
their way to English-speaking countries as early as the 1960's,
such as Fischer-Dieskau speaking Wilhelm Müller's prologue
and epilogue to "Die schöne Müllerin" in
his 1961 EMI recording of Schubert's song-cycle. (An earlier
DG recording of Brahms' "Die schöne Magelone"
in which Fischer-Dieskau spoke Tieck's accompanying narrative
appeared in the USA without the spoken parts!)
For those interested in opera, DG's "Magic Flute"
recording conducted by Karl Böhm provided the chance to
hear Fischer-Dieskau speak Papageno's dialogue, and in the early
1970's, music listeners who bought DG's ambitious Schubert Edition
with Fischer-Dieskau and Gerald Moore got to hear Fischer-Dieskau
speak Protobavera's text in the delightful little melodrama "Abschied
von der Erde" (D.829).
In the years since Fischer-Dieskau's retirement from singing
at the end of 1992, readings, narrations, interviews, lectures,
and other kinds of commentary have been one focus of his activity.
For example, since 1993, Fischer-Dieskau has frequently performed
Richard Strauss's melodrama "Enoch Arden," which he
recorded for DG in the mid-1960's, and has given readings on
his own (E.T.A. Hoffmann, Thomas Mann) and with others, such
as his performances of correspondence by Strauss and Hofmannsthal
with Gert Westphal and of Brahms and Clara Schumann with actress
Thekla-Carola Wied. In some cases, the readings have been coupled
with musical performances. In 2001, for example, Fischer-Dieskau
is scheduled to read from the letters of Leopold Mozart in a
performance with Mozart songs sung by Julia Varady. Not surprisingly,
the live performances have been confined to German-speaking countries,
but musical performances, such as the speaking role in Schönberg's
"Gurrelieder" have been heard in London. Next year
(2001), Fischer-Dieskau will be performing the speaking role
of Moses in Schönberg's "Moses und Aaron" in performances
conducted by Kent Nagano.
Some of Fischer-Dieskau's speaking performances have been
recorded, such as the reading from the correspondence of Goethe
and Carl Friedrich Zelter with Gert Westphal (Litraton 1995)
and the collection of Christmas poetry and stories released by
Orfeo ("Nacht, heller als der Tag" 1994). My own favorite
is the collection of music from the time of the Thirty Years
War, accompanied by Fischer-Dieskau reading poems by Andreas
Gryphius ("Die Herrlichkeit der Erden, Muss Rauch und Asche
werden", Ars Musici 1997). There, more than in the other
recordings, one can hear how wonderfully Fischer-Dieskau finds
the music in Gryphius' words and projects it without assistance
from any composer.
Although this is an aspect of Fischer-Dieskau's artistic activity
that may be quite remote from the experience of most of his English-speaking
admirers, it is important evidence of the intense involvement
with words that may be sensed in all of his musical performances.
Comments and Opinions
"His voice, in dialogue with actor Gert Westphal, transports
the correspondence between Goethe and Zelter, between Richard
Strauss and Hofmannsthal, between Nietzsche and Peter Gast, right
into the present, so that it is worthwhile to listen." (Hans
A. Neunzig)
"I am sure it would have been good for me if my father
or mother, or one of my many aunts, had enjoyed reading out loud.
But I was hardly ever the recipient of such a boon-- most likely
because I myself was too preoccupied with reading out loud. I
had a great yearning to exercise my own voice. And yet I cannot
imagine anything more beneficial to a child than to hear good
literature read aloud. When I was in the sixth grade, Dr. Mayer,
our enterprising German teacher, made us read (unfortunately
without acting) classic plays aloud, assigning us roles. It did
not take very long for him to discover that I stood out among
my fellow students who, stuttering mightily, robbed the reading
of any illusion. Because I could read with expression, I was
allowed to read the lead part in whatever play we were studying."
(Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Reverberations)
"The reciter has to accomplish yet another cultural-historical
rescue action: He has to stand up for the word. In our present
cultural-historical situation reciting is irretrievably out of
place, and the reciter's smile is directed at just this hopelessness.
The artistÕs nature is full of a spirit of contradiction
and he gains self-irony from it. When he is finished and leaves
the stage or the podium, he is disturbed by his inaudible cry
of disappointment, which has a different tone every time; in
such moments nothing would ever make his voice that has just
become silent resound once more.
It is a joy to known that one is connected in understanding with
other interpreters or with individual listeners in the audience.
The feeling of being important for someone else is, far beyond
all the gratitude that one may receive from others, both fascination
and fulfillment." (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Zeit eines
Lebens) |