Benjamin Appl (baritone)
For Dieter: Hommage à Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
James Baillieu (piano)
rec. 2024, Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal, Cologne, Germany
Sung texts with translations in English and French
Reviewed as download
Alpha Classics 1131 [79]
“He allowed poetry to sing and music to speak” wrote Franz Grillparzer in an epitaph for Franz Schubert, and the same could be said about Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, says Benjamin Appl in the beginning of his long, lavishly illustrated biography on the mastersinger, who also was his teacher and mentor. On 28 May 2025 would have celebrated his 100th birthday, and the whole classical music world is now hailing him for his outstanding contributions to enriching the lives of several generations of concertgoers and opera lovers – and not least all those millions who never had the opportunity to hear him in the flesh but could enjoy him, and still can, through his numerous recordings. He is arguably the most recorded classical musician in history, and the big companies – Warner and DG – for whom he recorded copious quantities of Lieder and operas during his whole career, will certainly produce jumbo boxes. Other companies will also profit from the anniversary. SOMM recently issued a twofer with live recordings from his heyday, coupled with interviews made in connection with his 75th and 80th birthdays, favourably reviewed by my colleague Gwyn Parry-Jones (review).
Benjamin Appl is probably the present-day singer best suited to step into Fischer-Dieskau’s shoes, and he has chosen to follow his mentor from the cradle to the grave as a complement to his comprehensive biography. The natural and recommendable way to enjoy this issue is to read the bio chapter by chapter, and listen to each track by turns, to get a full-size portrait of Fischer-Dieskau’s long and varied life teeming with successes but also setbacks and sorrows. Of course, one can just listen to the disc purely independently like any mixed Lieder programme, and be certain that here is one of the greatest exponents of the present-day Lieder generation in action; he has a lot in common with his mentor and idol. Thus I am not going to comment on the self-explanatory biography but rather concentrate on the musical content.
You will find here some well-known songs but also several rarities, including four pieces by Dieter’s father Albert and his older brother Klaus. All four – three songs and a brief nocturne for piano by Klaus – are world premiere recordings and very melodiously attractive, especially Heidenröslein by Albert and Wehmut by Klaus, both Goethe settings. The other song by Klaus, Aus Schmerzen und Freuden geboren, is a setting of a text by Dietrich and also includes a cello part.
Considering that DFD is so intimately connected with his songs, it comes as no surprise that Schubert is featured no fewer than five times, while An die Musik has the honour of being the prologue to the whole programme. Brahms, Wolf and Schumann are also here; the last’s gripping Requiem is a natural Epilogue when the unavoidable demise comes. Appl writes: “The last time I visited Dieter Fischer-Dieskau in his house on Lake Starnberg was just a few weeks before his death on 18 May 2012; it was important to him to explore Schubert’s Harfner-Lieder once again. The themes of these songs include a longing for death, isolation, and reproaches to the gods after a tragic life. He was depressed and his mood was dark; he often fell asleep briefly during the lessons or began to cry. I sensed that this was the last time I would be able to see him.”
DFD explored Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf and Richard Strauss in depth, but his recorded repertoire is more or less encyclopaedic, and Appl mirrors this in his choices of composers. Erich Wolfgang Korngold has during the last half-century advanced from being almost forgotten to a position among the elite. His Liebesbriefchen is one of his most beautiful creations – and it was composed in 1911 when the prodigy was just 14. DFD had a long and fruitful cooperation with Aribert Reimann, who passed away last year (2024) at age 88, both as his accompanist and as composer. Most important is the opera Lear – based on Shakespeare – which DFD commissioned and in which he played the title role. Tenebrae shows his dramatic power. French repertoire didn’t figure too often in his recitals, but Debussy and Ravel popped up from time to time. The German text to Debussy’s Schöner Abend is a translation by Dieter. Sinding, Tchaikovsky are further examples of his versatility. He even issued an LP with songs by Grieg – sung in German.
A bit surprising, perhaps, is the appearance of operetta composer Eduard Künneke in this programme. One doesn’t think of DFD in operetta terms, but he took part in a couple of Johann Strauss recordings, where his superb Dr Falke in Die Fledermaus is forever etched into my musical memory. Benjamin Appl’s beautiful reading of Ich bin nur ein armer Wandergesell from Der Vetter von Dingsda makes me wish that he might delve deeper into that repertoire someday. Fanny Hensler, Hanns Eisler, Bruno Walter – the world famous conductor who also composed in his spare time – are further composers of interest. DFD also returned to Carl Loewe, Schubert’s contemporary, who almost challenged the latter in diligence – he composed almost 400 ballads and songs – and I have always been fond of him, but I can’t remember hearing Süsses Begräbnis before, which certainly is my loss. It’s truly beautiful and utterly gripping. This also goes for Eisler’s Mutterns Hände. Another find is Clara Schumann’s Liebst du um Schönheit. This Rückert poem is well known in Mahler’s setting, but Clara Schumann’s version proudly stand beside Mahler’s, especially in Benjamin Appl’s wonderfully sensitive reading.
It remains to pay attention to two further composers, who also composed for Fischer-Dieskau. The first is Benjamin Britten, whose War Requiem was written for him, Peter Pears and Galina Vishnevskaya. Due to the cold war, Vishnevskaya was not allowed by the Soviet authorities to travel to Coventry for the premiere in May 1962, and Heather Harper had to stand in for her. She was, however, allowed to take part in the studio recording. I was fortunate to be in London’s Festival Hall when DFD sang the role many years later with his wife Julia Varady in the soprano part and Robert Tear in the tenor part. He was a bit past his best, but the magic was there anyway. The brief excerpt here revived the memory. The second is Samuel Barber, whose Three Songs Op. 45 from 1974 also belong to my favourites.
To sum up: this recital is a cornucopia of wonderful songs, superbly sung, for every lover of art songs to delve into.
Göran Forsling
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Contents
PROLOGUE
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
1 An die Musik, D547 (Schober) 2‘50
CHILDHOOD IN BERLIN
ALBERT FISCHER-DIESKAU (1865-1937)
2 Heidenröslein, from the Singspiel Sesenheim (Goethe) * 2’36
KLAUS FISCHER-DIESKAU (1921-1994)
3 Nocturne I, op. 1/1 (excerpt) (Dedicated to Mother) * 1’08
4 Wehmut, op. 3/2 (Goethe) * 2’30
TEENAGE YEARS AND FIRST STEPS AS A SINGER
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)
5 Wie bist du, meine Königin, op. 32/9 (Daumer) 3‘57
A SOLDIER IN WAR 1943-1945
HUGO WOLF (1860-1903)
6 Andenken (Matthisson) 2’20
ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD (1897-1957)
7 Liebesbriefchen, op. 9/4 (Honold) 2’29
FRANZ SCHUBERT
8 Strophe aus ‘Die Götter Griechenlands‘, D677 (Schiller) 4’32
ARIBERT REIMANN (1936-2024)
9 Tenebrae (Celan) 3’15
A PRISONER OF WAR 1945-1947
CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
10 Schöner Abend, L. 84 (Bourget/Fischer-Dieskau) 2’29
CHRISTIAN SINDING (1856-1941)
11 Sylvelin, op. 55/1 (Vislie/Henzen) 1’42
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
12 Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt, op. 6/6 (Goethe) 3’13
EDUARD KÜNNEKE (1885-1953)
13 Ich bin nur ein armer Wandergesell (Haller/Rideamus) 1’39
RETURNING HOME IN 1947
FANNY HENSEL (1805-1847)
14 Ach, die Augen sind es wieder (Heine) 1’23
HANNS EISLER (1898-1962)
15 Die Heimkehr (Brecht) 1’42
KLAUS FISCHER-DIESKAU
16 Aus Schmerzen und Freuden geboren, op. 22/1 (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau) * 2’28
BIRTH OF THREE SONS
BRUNO WALTER (1876-1962)
17 Des Kindes Schlaf (Eichendorff) 1’57
SONG ACCOMPANISTS AND FRIENDS
FRANZ SCHUBERT
18 An mein Klavier, D342 (Schubart) 4’04
BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976)
19 Proverb III, from Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, op. 74 (Blake) 0’57
THE BITTER LOSS OF IRMEL, HIS FIRST WIFE IN 1963
CARL LOEWE (1796-1869)
20 Süßes Begräbnis, op. 62/4 (Rückert) 2’56
DEATH OF HIS MOTHER THEODORA IN 1966
HANNS EISLER
21 Mutterns Hände (Tucholsky) 2’07
MARITAL LIFE
(RUTH LEUWERIK 1965-1967, KRISTINA PUGELL 1968-1975, JULIA VARADY 1977-2012)
FRANZ GROTHE (1908-1982)
22 Excerpt from music for the film: ‘Vater braucht eine Frau‘ 1’26
FRANZ SCHUBERT
23 Liebhaber in allen Gestalten, D558 (Goethe) 1’38
CLARA SCHUMANN (1819-1896)
24 Liebst du um Schönheit, op. 12/2 (Rückert) 2’11
COMMISSIONS AND WORLD PREMIERES
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
25 Hörnersang, op. 66 from War Requiem (Owen/Fischer-Dieskau) 2’49
SAMUEL BARBER (1910-1981)
Three Songs, op. 45 (1974)
26 Now I Have Fed and Eaten Up the Rose (Keller/Joyce) 1’59
27 A Green Lowland of Pianos (Harsymowicz/Miłosz) 2’15
28 O Boundless, Boundless Evening (Heym/Middleton) 3’04
TEACHING AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
FRANZ SCHUBERT
29 An die Laute, D905 (Rochlitz) 1’36
HUGO WOLF
30 Sterb’ ich, so hüllt in Blumen meine Glieder (Heyse) 2’39
FAREWELL TO STAGE
CARL MARIA VON WEBER (1786-1826)
31 Meine Lieder, meine Sänge, op. 15/1 (Löwenstein-Werthheim) 2’58
EPILOGUE
ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
32 Requiem, op. 90/7 (Dreves) 3’51
* World premiere recording
Bartolomeo Dandolo Marchesi (cello) (tr.16)
