Memory plays tricks.
For this reason recordings and film
provide an opportunity to measure perceptions
against some form of objective base.
Therein lies the value of this DVD,
for it shows Fischer-Dieskau, one of
the greatest Lieder singers of all time,
as he was. This is a live recording
of his last performance at the Schubertiade
festival at Feldkirch in the Vorarlberg,
Austria, in June 1991. He was finally
to announce his retirement eighteen
months later.
Moreover, the concert
was something of an occasion. He had
not, for various reasons, performed
Die Schöne Müllerin
for twenty years. It must have been
interesting for the audience to hear
how he might present the much loved
cycle after many further years of contemplation,
particularly how he would adapt his
performance to the changed texture of
his voice. Unlike mechanical instruments,
the human voice is an integral part
of the human body, and, as the body
ages, the voice changes too. There are
notable examples of singers who can
keep their vigour well into old age
– Hugues Cuénod was singing,
privately, past the age of 100. But
his last recording, at the age of 85,
was a work of love, rather than any
illusion of former brilliance. When
this film was made, Fischer-Dieskau
had just passed his 66th
birthday. Although his voice was noticeably
thinner and more fragile than it was
in his prime, by shepherding his resources
judiciously, he would have been able
to delight his audience, who were clearly
all rooting for him, (In the film, I
think I recognise a friend in the balcony).
Shared memories of earlier glories must
have warmed all present, bathing the
experience in a glow of nostalgic memory.
It seems almost cruel to listen to this
performance critically, for it cannot
have seemed, then, to have been anything
but a success. Yet the sad reality is
that there are many moments when technique
just about rescues tessitura, when passages
are forced, and words harshly tossed
out. But it would be unfair to judge
this for the singing – to have any souvenir
of such a career is worthwhile. His
singing here is more bearable than later
but perhaps it's better to listen with
allowances.
The film is much more
important as a record of Fischer-Dieskau's
performance style. His relative immobility
on stage has, in recent years, been
cited as some kind of rule by which
other singers must be judged. Alas,
it is artificial and destructive. Obviously,
a singer needs to conserve his or her
energy and lung capacity for the production
of the voice. But it does not follow
that body rigidity should always result.
The main criterion should always be
expression, and voice. All else is extra.
Photographs and descriptions of singers
of the past show that the idea of rigidity
just didn't come onto the radar. This
film shows Fischer-Dieskau happily leaning
on the piano, bending from the chest,
twisting his torso, moving his arms,
lifting his heels, his face vividly
expressive. He was technician enough
to know that if ever he needed physiology
to boost his performance, it would have
been then, in his later years. Yet he
was also artist enough to realise that
what a good singer does with his body
is instinctive, personal and natural
to his performance as a whole. The myth
of immobility is destructive when it's
used to disparage good singers and mislead
others into assuming form is as important
as substance. Hopefully the myth will
be now put into perspective.
The bonus with this
DVD is an interview from 1985. It's
reverential, with a few amusing clichés.
Fischer-Dieskau, to his credit, responds
with humorous candour, pointing out
that he conducted only for four years
and didn't like doing opera. He also
tells the interviewer that he didn't
push his children towards musical careers.
His son, however, remembers differently.
His father handed him a cello when he
was five and was kind but firmly insistent.
It's a cheerful reminder that memory
on its own is fallible.
Anne Ozorio
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone) 
TDK DV-CODSM [83:00] 
