Dear Howard & List,

Your question is an interesting one to me, but there are actually two
aspects to it. First, how do you define "up and coming male lieder
singer"? It strikes me that by this time all the "DFD successors," if
you'll pardon that term, are in their late thirties or into their
forties or even older. What age would an "up and coming" lieder singer
be?

The first singers I can think of who were announced as DFD's successors
would be Olaf Baer and Andreas Schmidt, who must be in their fifties. I
have never been overly impressed by either of them. Thomas Hampson is
also of that generation, and he seemed to have quite deliberately
modeled himself on DFD. He has devoted himself to research to some
extent, and he debuted that "original" Schumann "Dichterliebe" that he
both performed and recorded, as well as participating in research on
Mahler. But all in all, he doesn't have the stature or accomplishments
of DFD.

Of a somewhat later vintage are Roman Trekel, Thomas Quasthoff,
Matthias Goerne, and Dietrich Henschel, all of whom I enjoy hearing. Of
those, the best singer, in my opinion, is Thomas Quasthoff. However, he
seems to be allergic to contemporary music and certainly doesn't have
DFD's intellect or seriousness of purpose. One could add Ian Bostridge
to this list. He has the seriousness of purpose and the intellect, but
he doesn't have the voice.

Somewhat younger candidates would be Konrad Jarnot and Christian
Gerhaher. Jarnot sings a lot of Lieder, and his recordings are good, in
my opinion, but he doesn't approach DFD in voice, interpretative
ability, or emotional intensity. Gerhaher is very well thought of, but
on the occasions I have heard him in concert he seemed average at best.

I really liked Stephan Genz, who would be about the same age as
Gerhaher and Jarnot, but he seems to have disappeared from the field,
and his later recordings were not of the same quality as the earlier
ones.

What I regret is that Bryn Terfel did not sing more Lieder. The one
recital I heard and the Schubert CD he made many years ago were very
impressive, but his career has gone in other directions, and I think
that's too bad.

But if DFD had successors, whether they were his equals or not, where
are their successors? Are there any?

Celia

Celia A. Sgroi
sgroi@...


--- In Fischer-DieskauList@yahoogroups.com, "Howard Garrett"
<hwrd.garrett@...> wrote:
>
> I just viewed DFD's master class via you tube. Thanks Celia for
> telling us about it. It was wonderful.
> I would be curious to know what some of you think about another
> issue. Which current up and coming male lieder singer comes closest
> to DFD's voice quality and intellect? There are a number of singers
> out there, most European (it seems to me), who are very special. Who
> do you like the most and why.
>