Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau ~ in memoriam

The respected German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau died 18^th May 2012, aged 86; just 10 days before his 87^th birthday; and 12 days before the Golden Jubilee performance of his  extraordinary part in the premiere of War Requiem.

We remember him:

Born in Berlin in May 1925, he emerged as a performer after World War II and was swiftly recognised as one of his generation's finest lyrical vocalists.

Fischer-Dieskau was one of the most famous 'Lieder' performers of the twentieth century. In a career lasting 40 years he was an inspiration to the vast number of singers who have followed his example in this field, and made the singing of lieder a common experience, creating new audiences around the world.

A successful career in opera began at the Berlin City Opera as Posa in Don Carlos in 1948. He sang most of the major baritone roles in the house. From 1949 onwards he appeared regularly at the Vienna State Opera and at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. He also sang at the Bayreuth festival from 1954 to 1956.

In a gesture suffused with symbolism, it was Fischer-Dieskau whom English composer and conductor Benjamin Britten requested to sing in the premiere of Britten's War Requiem in 1962 at the shattered and then rebuilt Coventry Cathedral.

Britten's choice of wording speaks volumes about Fischer-Dieskau's immense reputation among fellow artists: "With great temerity," Britten wrote in his letter, "I am asking you whether you would sing the baritone."

The premiere famously took place in the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral, which had been destroyed in a bombing raid in 1940.

Peter Pears and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (left) performed the tenor and baritone solos at the premiere performance of War Requiem.

Dietrich (a veteran conscript of the wartime Wehrmacht) was ‘moved to tears’. Britten recalled “poor F-Dieskau was so upset at the end that Peter couldn’t get him out of the choir stalls! It was that wonderful Strange Meeting”.

In his own memoires a few years later, Dietrich wrote: “I was completely undone … I did not know where to hide my face … dear friends and past suffering arose in my mind.”

Listen to an extract from Britten’s War Requiem; Libera Me (Pt 3.3), with pears, Fischer Dieskau and choir: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d55wp3F_yQ8

"To my generation, he was something so special that one was always awestruck," the English mezzo-soprano Dame Janet Baker told Sean Rafferty on Radio 3's In Tune programme. "One just bows before the artistry and the sheer beauty of the sound he made."

He first sang Winterreise in public at age 17, in 1943. He was singing at the town hall of Zehlendorf, a suburb of Berlin. The performance was interrupted by an RAF bombing.

In an interview he gave to The Guardian upon turning 80, the singer recalled, "The whole audience of 200 people and myself had to go into the cellar for two-and-a-half hours. Then when the raid was over we came back up and resumed."

The Second World War defined a large part of the singer's youth. Conscripted into the German army, he was captured in Italy by the Americans in 1945 and spent almost two years as a POW; while there, he gave recitals of Schubert songs. Once the Nazis were defeated, Fischer-Dieskau returned to Berlin and began singing professionally.

One of his most frequent collaborators, the pianist Gerald Moore, wrote in his memoirs: "He had only sung one phrase before I knew I was in the presence of a master." (At the time, Moore was 52 years old, while Fischer-Dieskau was just half the pianist's age.) As time went on, the admiration only increased for this musician's musician.

Klaus Staeck, president of the German Academy of Arts, said his contribution to the German art song was "phenomenal".

Though critics raved about his beautiful voice and musical artistry, Fischer-Dieskau said his aim was simply to get close to the essence of the song.

His intention, he said, was to suppress nothing and make no concessions - either to vocal limitations or popular taste.

Read more about Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's wonderful relationship with Benjamin Britten, War Requiem and Coventry in THE IDEA WAS GOOD - www.warrequiem.co.uk

requiescat in pace

let him rest in peace

www.warrequiem.co.uk

Foster, Britten and Owen – the book, the launch.

Last night saw the launch of THE IDEA WAS GOOD ~ the story of Britten’s War Requiem, a passionate book about a passionate subject (see earlier posts below).

After a ‘soft launch’ to a welcoming audience of ‘Friends of Coventry Cathedral’ in the morning, the scene was set in st Michael’s Hall (Coventry Cathedral) for the official launch last night (30^th April 2012).

Amongst the fabulous displays of artefacts and memorabilia, which themselves celebrate the foundation of Coventry’s iconic symbol of Peace and Reconciliation, wine was served and canapés circulated amongst the guests invited to share the occasion.

For Michael Foster, the author, this was the culmination of a extraordinary two year journey on which he’d embarked at the invitation of Coventry Cathedral to write a book to be available as part of the Cathedral’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Here, just four short weeks before the 50^th anniversary performance of War Requiem, Michael was clearly moved and proud to introduce his book, his own Magnum Opus.

Michael is guaranteed a place at the anniversary performance - not because of his hard work organising all of the great musical events being performed as part of the Golden Jubilee; not because of his two year journey to write and produce the book whose profits go to the Jubilee Fund; not even because he had the chance to buy tickets from the outsell, long before they sold out over a year ago … no, Michael is guaranteed a place because he is singing in it.

The Very Reverend John Irvine, Dean of Coventry, introduced Michael and the reason behind the commissioning of the book about Britten’s War Requiem – ironically commissioned about fifty years later than Britten had himself been invited to write a celebratory opus for the Festival of Consecration. Both invitations were eagerly accepted. The first (chronologically) culminated is the performance of War Requiem in the Cathedral, May 1962; the latter in THE IDEA WAS GOOD – it’s story.

Michael told his audience about Benjamin Britten’s excitement at finally having the reason to write a musical statement of peace, or more so about the horrors of war. His Requiem Mass in memory of the dead was to be woven in and around the words of Wilfred Owen, so vividly recounting and warning of the violent, pointless, bloody loss of life in the trenches of the First World War.

THE IDEA WAS GOOD is a story for Coventry as well as a story for anyone, anywhere who has faith in the hope that reconciliation offers. Michael Foster shared these thoughts with us as he, naturally, commended his book to us. The messages are as true today as they were in the heart of the Cold War fifty years ago.

THE IDEA WAS GOOD is available from Coventry Cathedral or directly via the website @

www.warrequiem.co.uk

Michael.Foster@CoventryCathedral.org.uk

[Michael (left) with some of the design team: Luke Matthews (far left) of King Charles I School Kidderminster designed the amazing cover; Feride Seferaj (Fred)and Phil Perry of Coventry University Graphic Design department designed the book itself.]