Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (1925-2012)

The music world lost a towering figure today. At the age of 86, baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau passed away. Known for his rich voice and clean,crisp vocal technique, his career spanned decades and influenced generations of singers and listeners. Fischer-Dieskau was born in Berlin, and began studying music at the Berlin Conservatory when he was 16. During this time he was drafted into the Wehrmacht by the Nazis, and later became a prisoner of war for two years during World War II. Soon after this he made his oratorio debut in Johannes Brahms's Ein Deutches Requiem, and his stage debut in Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlos. He transferred his stage experience into his performances of lieder, allowing a dramatic musical interpretation of the poetry to shine forth. His collaboration with English pianist Gerald Moore produced masterful recordings of every song by Schubert, Schumann, and Wolf. Their recordings on the EMI label from the 1950s and 1960s demonstrate the pinnacle of musical and dramatic interpretations of this literature. Fischer-Dieskau also recorded lieder by Beethoven, Weber, Haydn, Nietzsche, Brahms, Strauss, and others.

In addition to being a masterful performer of music, Fischer-Dieskau also published a number of books centered around the composers he sang the most. His notable books include:

• The Fischer-Dieskau Book of Lieder: The Original Texts to Over Seven Hundred and Fifty Songs (1977) [An important reference source for any vocalist]
• Schubert: A Biographical Study of His Songs (1976)
• Robert Schumann, Words and Music: The Vocal Compositions (1988)
• Reverberation: The Memoirs of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (1990)

 Fischer-Dieskau appears on no fewer than 490 recordings, and he is a two-time Grammy winner. His first Grammy came in 1971 for his recording of Schubert lieder, and his second in 1973 for Brahms's "Die Schöne Magelone." In addition to being a performer and a writer, Fischer-Dieskau was highly sought out for his teaching and coaching.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau recorded a vast amount of Lieder, opera, sacred music, and orchestral Lied, yet the standards of performance and interpretation never faulted. It is truly a happy marriage of quantity and quality. He retired from the opera stage in 1978, and on New Years Day 1993, he retired from the stage altogether. Anyone who took advantage to see him perform in person was fortunate. His recordings will live on as the benchmark and goal of perfection. The musical community was blessed and honored that he shared himself, his talent, and his gift with us.

The Beastie Knights

With the passing of Adam Yauch from The Beastie Boys, I have been revisiting the groups ouvre; yes, I went there. "Sabotage" is perhaps my favorite. But as I listened to it, something caught my attention. As I heard the opening guitar riff, which permeates throughout the song, and the "hammerstrokes" laid down by the drums, this sounded familiar with something else I have heard. The opening track to The Dark Knight soundtrack has a similar style to "Sabotage." I am not sure if "Sabotage" served as any kind of influence for Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, but the similarity is a bit striking. It is known that Christopher Nolan, the director of The Dark Knight, said that Heat served as an influence on the direction he took with The Dark Knight, and even had the entire cast and crew watch Heat in order to understand where he wanted to go with the project. It is interesting that the "Sabotage" music video features The Beastie Boys running around in an urban environment as law enforcement agents chasing down bad guys, essentially what happens in Heat and The Dark Knight. Here is a sample from "Sabotage" followed by the opening track to The Drak Knight score, "Why So Serious?"