Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich (1925-2012)

Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich

OPERA SINGER, CONDUCTOR, PAINTER (GERMANY)

BORN 28 May 1925, Berlin - DIED 18 May 2012, Berg am Starnberger See, Bayern: Himbselweg 16
GRAVE LOCATION Berlin: Friedhof Heerstrasse, Trahkener Allee 1, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (Feld 8 C 52/53 (Ehrengrab))

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was the son of a philologist and a teacher. He received singing lessons from Georg A. Walter and in 1942 from Hermann Weißenborn at the Music Academy in Berlin. But he had to join the Wehrmacht and in Italy he was taken prisoner of war by the Americans. In the prison camp in Italy he gave his first concerts. After his release he debuted in 1947 in Badenweiler. In 1948 he was engaged at the Städtische Oper in Berlin and in 1949 he made his first record. In the same year he married the cellist Irmgard Poppen. They had three children.

In 1951 he appeared at the Festspiele in Salzburg under the direction of Wilhelm Furtwängler. In 1952 he toured in the USA and in 1954 he debuted at the Bayreuth Festival. In 1956 he became a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin. He sang the tenor with Peter Pears at the inauguration of the new Cathedral in Coventry in 1962. After his wife died in childbirth in 1963 he married the actress Ruth Leuwerik in 1965, but they divorved in 1967. From 1968 to 1975 he was married to Kristina Pugell and from 1977 until his death with the singer Julia Varady.

He appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the State Opera in Vienna, the State Opera in Munich and the Royal Opera House in London. During his career he made numerous recordings. In 1983 he became a professor at the University of the Arts in Berlin. He died in 2012 in Berg in Bavaria.

Images

The grave of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau at Friedhof Heerstrasse, Berlin.
Picture by Androom (10 Aug 2020)