Cast
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau — Teacher, baritone
Christian Elsner — Tenor
Jan Philip Schulze — Pianist
Christiane Iven — Mezzo-soprano
Matthias Rettner — Baritone
Eric Schneider — Pianist
Program notes
Pull up a chair for a riveting series of 1992 master classes at Berlin's Hochschule der Künste by the one and only Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, one of the most celebrated baritones of all time, in a documentary series by Bruno Monsaingeon, man of letters and music and maker of legendary films. A peerless interpreter of German Romantic melody, Fischer-Dieskau left behind multiple benchmark recordings of works by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, and Wagner. In addition to his remarkable performing career, he took great pleasure in teaching, taking the time to guide younger artists through difficult repertoire with perspicacity and finesse.
Between 1966 and 1971, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and pianist Gerald Moore recorded the full set of Lieder by Schubert—an undertaking that raised the baritone to the loftiest heights of the Lied. In this second lesson, he and his students plunge into Schubert's remarkable œuvre in songs "full of color and possibility" for Fischer-Dieskau, who never sang a Lied the same way twice, always finding something new and spontaneous to inject into their timeless melodies.