Part of Audite's four-volume edition celebrating the 85th birthday of
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with recordings of radio broadcast recitals by the great German baritone, this disc includes three superb if disparate performances. The two earliest sets come from the early '50s, Beethoven's Six Gellert Lieder from 1951 and three songs from
Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn from 1953, while the final set comes from 1977 and features
Fischer-Dieskau and his wife, soprano
Julia Varady, in a series of duets by Schumann. In the early recordings,
Fischer-Dieskau is in superb form, his tone warm, his technique agile, his voice smoothly balanced from top to bottom, and his interpretations incredibly intense, particularly in the Gellert Lieder and especially in "Vom Tode." His voice is a bit past its peak in the later recordings, but his musicality and sensitivity were never greater and he seems to be having a grand time singing about life and love with his wife. Ably accompanied by
Hertha Klust in the 1950s and by
Cord Garben in the 1970s, these performances are sure to delight
Fischer-Dieskau's many fans around the globe, though the dimness of the 1950s recordings is a drawback.