Customer Reviews

Schubert: Winterreise

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
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I know only 3 releases by DFD of his (7) commercial cds available: 1966 (demus), 1972 (Moore) and 1985 (brendel).
in this I can see an evolution: as time passes by his voice is less fresh and becomes more "histrionic". I think 1972 is better than 1966 because more emotional details are revealed in 1972. There are no passages without being highlighted in 1972 (as I find in 1966). If you want clear, fresh voice, go for 1966 (or perhaps earlier eg 1962 -Moore-?). In 1972, as in 1966, he is in great vocal form. Perhaps that is why Grammopone said 1972 is the central DFD reading of winterreise.
What happens in 1985?
To begin with, winterreise is a song essay about despair and solitude. An exalted approach is surely wellcome here. And that is what you get: DFD sounds more exalted, more involved than ever. At such an age ir is impressive to see in how good form he is in forte passages. At the same time, as he becomes wiser, time also passes by: he is not in good vocal form as in 1966 or 1972: some notes sound a bit ugly. But ONLY A FEW NOTES, which are overwhelmed by lots of moments which show DFD as most perceptive of emotional and musical nuances. Here he gives the whole of himself to the service of music. Perhaps also before, but here is much more evident given his (partially) decandent (compared with the sixties) vocal form.
And if you still have doubts (better vocal form vs more profound, personal, emotional), brendel answers all of them. By far is the best pianist. Why? Because Demus and Moore sound like accompanist pianists. Moore, in particular, is like DFD's shadow. A complete partnership with the singer.In paper this is great but listen to brendel and you will see what Schubert really wrote for piano: not just music to support the voice but worthy of being considered as satisfactory independent music parts. In other words the piano writing benefits a lot by being interpreted by a soloist and not a mere accompanist. And brendel is more than just a soloist: he is also a researcher. His piano style blends modern practices with period ones, bringing forward more clarity than average. This is not a singer - and - his - shadow - show (DFD-Moore), but a meeting of two outstanding musical personalities.
The most satisfactory winterreise of the 3 for me.

A wonderful performance... Fischer-Dieskau is always the best, and Brendel here gives a beautiful accompaniement, strongly emphasizing the extra-musical features. I especially liked "Die Post", "Der Lindenbaum", "Trockne Blumen" (where one can really hear the leaves falling) and "Der Leiermann". The tragic atmosphere is fully conveyed. This is Brendel of the early eighties, one I prefer compared to today's Brendel, which tends to exaggerate his interpretation and sometimes sounds artificial, to my taste. Here Brendel gives us pure Schubert, with a Schubertian "natural" sound, and the total emotionality of the music, unexaggerated. The recording is also excellent.

What's to say? Schubert--arguably the finest composer of song--along with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau--INarguably the finest baritone of the 20th Century!--and Alfred Brendel: a match made in heaven. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's voice was, I'm persuaded, God's way of keeping angels humble.

By the time he recorded this at age 60, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's voice had lost just a wee tad of its strength and flexibility, but his artistry and insight into both the text and the music is so much more mature than in his earlier years that what was lost is more than made up for in performance.

Pure joy to listen to. Of all Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's recordings, this is probably my favorite. Just wonderful.

Do I recommend this? "Let them who have ears, hear!"

All here is smooth and correct. But the emotion seems "mailed-in," and emotion is so important for Schubert songs!
The piano work comes across more strongly and playfully than in some other recordings.
My gold standard for this work remains Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten on London/Decca.

I listen to a Fischdr-Dieskau recording of any kind about once a decade, since for me he has always been an externalized singer, one who draws attention to his technique wihtout letting us inside. But he was 60 when he made this CD, a famous collaboration with Alfred Brendel, and time had frayed his voice, making it more vulnerable, adding a marked quaver, and depriving him of his shouted bark (at least somewhat). I found it easier to hear a person with feelings behind the faulty techniuqe, perhaps a trick of age but still affecting.

In its basic contours this Winterreise was already set thirty years ago--Fischer-Dieskau has undergone no great transformaiton--so anyone who alreayd loves him will be satisfied. Brendel asks for comparison with Benjamin Britten as an accompanist, but where Britten blended uncannily with Peter Pears, Brendel goes his own way and seems a bit isolated from Fischer-Dieskau. In any event, his playing is cool, crisp and slightly brittle, not the romatic cushion Britten provided so incomparbly.