MARTIN FISCHER-DIESKAU
IN CHINA

HARBIN CONCERT 2024

Overview

Martin Fischer-Dieskau knows how hard it is to gauge the worth of a serious conductor. Not feeling the need for superficial dazzle, he is able in a flash to gain the confidence of his players. His command of the structure of the piece is combined with sure-fire technique.

As a musician of our day Martin Fischer-Dieskau eschews over-specialization. He has devoted his entire career to the study of the Viennese Classics and to the exploration of new music and contemporary production. In acknowledgement of the century-old tradition of conducting, he excels in the performance of the great Austro-Germanic symphonic repertoire, while international opera houses have invited him to conduct more than 40 works of every genre.

When Maestro Fischer-Dieskau conducts from memory, the audience and the orchestra feel secure. The great heritage of Western music, both in style and content, find continuity. The fusion of music and listener becomes a reality. After four music directorships on three continents and hundreds of guest engagements his audiences worldwide look forward with pleasure to an authentic musical experience, whether in opera or in concert.

Media Quotes

Media Quotes

[...] The centerpiece of the night was the Berlioz "Symphonie Fantastique," and here the conductor's strengths were amply on view: expressive hands, a sense of theater and perhaps, most tellingly in this piece, a clear idea of that kind of sound he wanted in each of the work's five intense and feverish but very different movements [...]

The New York Times

Martin Fischer-Dieskau did not start his career on a vertical takeoff; he did not appear on the scene as a youthful dynamo. Yet the carefully prepared development process of this conductor seems to be paying off. We have heard Schubert’s C Major Symphony, “The Great,” several times in recent weeks, notably by – among others – James Levine; Fischer-Dieskau, however, brought such formal unity and meaningful dramaturgy to the work that his inter- pretation approached the sensational.

Süddeutsche Zeitung

[...] Theirs was a sober, sensitive and often poetic performance, notably in the opening movement, with the conductor taking note of the character of detail for granted and keeping watchful balance with the pianist [...]

The Times

The Philharmonic is sold-out, the audience is ecstatic. The conductor Martin Fischer-Dieskauis a man who exudes radiant charm. His style is not that of the contemporary young conductors; rather his conducting is precise and detailed right up to the very last eighth note of the spider web. There is much joy to experience in this illumination of the worldly aspects of music.

Kölnische Rundschau

Meanwhile, a discovery for all was the conductor who proved to be a most pleasant surprise. An unpleasant affair for San Carlo ended with Martin Fischer-Dieskau’s taking over the podium on short notice. Without resorting to comparisons, I will limit myself to the revelation that the conductor now in charge has an obvious talent which manifested itself in his technique as well as in his ideal understanding. The conducting was always absolutely sure-handed, without unnecessary gestures or exhibitionism: moving, almost loving phrasing, devoid of any misuse of rubato or attempts to be more Viennese than the Viennese.

Il Mattino

And on the podium an experienced Maestro, conducting the entire program from memory, whose last name evokes an illustrious opera personality of our time. His entrance always sure-fire, his gestures unfailingly energetic and secure Martin Fischer-Dieskau drew a maximum performance from the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada which in turn received much deserved acclaim for the lovely soloists and the conductor.

EL PAÍS

The high caliber of the performance is owing, in large part, to the authentic talent of the conductor, who pays tribute to his father, the illustrious German baritone. With smiling ease and natural authority, the maestro imposed his style of conducting , as much with suppleness as with power to call forth a transcendent interpretation of the passionate musical gestures of Russian composer Rheinhold Glière’s first symphony.

Le Monde

Biography

MARTIN FISCHER-DIESKAU
Conductor

A scion of the 19th century classical music tradition, Martin Fischer-Dieskau has developed a keen sense of innovative flair for unusual and varied programming. He brought Rameau, Glière, Blacher and the foremost contemporary Taiwanese composers to Taipei, the Bruckner symphonies to Mainland China, and a much-heralded production of Mozart’s "Magic Flute" to Chopin-haunted Mallorca. Over the years, he has conducted nearly 100 orchestras worldwide, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Moscow State Orchestra, Orchestre national de France, the NHK Tokyo, the Tokyo Philharmonic, and the New Japan Philharmonic. He has led all the major orchestras of Germany, Scandinavia, and many Italian and Spanish orchestras as well.

Maestro Fischer-Dieskau records for the Marco Polo and BIS labels, and has established his own television series introducing young musicians for the German ARD-TV channel. In addition to his international guest conducting activities, Maestro Fischer-Dieskau held a professorship at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen.

Biography contd.

featuring Wagner and Verdi. A highlight of 2015-2016 was assignments with new orchestras in China and Romania conducting Beethoven’s Ninth. In the summer of 2017, Maestro Fischer-Dieskau led the Orquesta Sinfónica Tenerife in works by Stravinsky, Gounod, and Jean Françaix.

Maestro Fischer-Dieskau’s early career was launched by an invitation from Seiji Ozawa to join the much sought-after Leonard Bernstein Fellowship program at Tanglewood in 1978, a program he had the privilege of attending again a decade later, in 1988, and then once more, in 1997. His earliest success was a production in 1974 of Haydn’s rarity “Il Mondo della Luna” in his native Berlin. At the age of 23, Maestro Fischer-Dieskau was chosen by Antal Doráti to become Assistant Conductor at the Detroit Symphony. His studies included conducting, violin, and piano at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, the Universität der Künste in Berlin and the Accademia Chigiana di Siena. He participated in masterclasses with Franco Ferrara, Maestro Ozawa, and Leonard Bernstein. To this he added the study of Italian literature and musicology, earning a PhD in 2015 from the Freie Universität Berlin and the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne.


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Updated August 2018. Please discard any earlier versions.

Reviews

The Brandenburg Symphony players accompanied the two Viennese soloists with much sensitivity. They truly blossomed in the finale with the Tchaikovsky Symphony No.1 in G Minor, Op 13, which bears the title “Winter Dreams.” Not the sort of dreams one has in front of a cozy Russian fireplace, but rather a state of mind in which ice seems to freeze one’s blood. Portents of spring, however, shimmer with hope. One of Tchaikovsky’s great strengths lies in his rich and varied instrumentation. Color, tempi, and articulation were created with great finesse by Fischer-Dieskau. From the first move- ment he demonstrated his profound understanding of the concept of contrast. In the exposition he care- fully juxtaposed the sudden change from the insistent rhythms of the strings with the main theme as played by the woodwinds. The great crescendo in the final movement was mastered with impressive force by the Brandenburg players. Read more here
January 25, 2016 | Klaus Büstrin

Conducting has become a field for many charlatans … An old capellmeister who emigrated and returned to Germany, watched me as a 19-year-old conduct and said: "Lad, at all cost you need to make that your profession in life!" Read more here
April 27, 2010 | Michaela Preiner

Martin Fischer-Dieskau deserves the highest praise for his commitment and discretion as conductor. The TSO has never sounded better. Read more here
September 8, 2008 | Bradley Winterton

… This is now in place, and on Tuesday night the orchestra was in fine form under Fischer-Dieskau’s insightful direction. All in all, everything seems set for another step in the TSO’s rehabilitation as a major force in Taipei’s classical music life … Read more here
Fri, Sep 05, 2008 | Bradley Winterton

The Finale was first class … Read more here
November 29, 2005 | Lawrence A. Johnson

Martin Fischer-Dieskau has an extraordinary ability to create sound and image. […] Graceful, tall, and impeccably attired Fischer-Dieskau towered over the stage … Read more here
September 20, 2002 | Colleen Johnston

Fischer-Dieskau and the KWS navigated the complex score with unbelievable style and accuracy … Read more here
May 5, 2003 | Harry Currie

Conductor Martin Fischer-Dieskau is just the sort of superb musician you want to have in charge of an orchestra as responsive to suggestion … Read more here
June 17, 2003 | Colleen Johnston

Perhaps what separates an impressive conductor from the vast legions of the hum-drum isn’t how well he or she manages a huge group of specialist technicians, but in the way he or she handles the stasis […] While everyone else seems to want to get on with the action bits, it’s a handful like Fischer- Dieskau who knows the real artistry is in the suspense … Read more here
September 27, 2003 | Colleen Johnston

Interdisciplinary

Dirigieren im 19. Jahrhundert

Did you know that operas in Italy until the middle of the 19th Century were being led by two conductors? This surprising conducting tradition and its disengagement is, what Martin Fischer-Dieskau tells us about in a most thrillingly detailed book. And who could recondition such a special subject more seriously and more competently than a man who was chief conductor and professor for conducting and on top of it earned his PhD as a musicologist with this book?

Read more here: das Orchester | Schott Music | SWR

Maestro!

Martin Fischer-Dieskau characterises both composers as „conductors against their will“...

Read more here: eBookRich

Verdi & Wagner

Read more here: das Orchester | questia

Nicht jeder, der einen Taktstock zur Hand nimmt, ist deshalb schon Dirigent.

MARTIN FISCHER-DIESKAU
Conductor

Wagen Sie mit dieser fünfteiligen Betrachtung einen Blick hinter die Kulissen.

Entworfen ursprünglich als Beitrag zu einer Festschrift möchte sie noch einmal in Erinnerung rufen, dass Dirigieren kein Beruf ist, den man um seiner selbst willen ergreifen kann. Dieser Beruf ist Schimäre und bleibt eine Art Wunschvorstellung von allen Seiten, mit denen er zu tun hat.

Fünfteilige Betrachtung öffnen

Events

BUBER DORÁTI FESTIVAL

In the spring of 1988 the late Antal Doráti (1906-1988), world-famous American conductor and composer of Hungarian origin, assigned his former Detroit Symphony assistant conductor Martin Fischer-Dieskau to ensure that his only opera THE CHOSEN / DER KÜNDER received a future first class rendition jointly studying the work with him at the piano in his Swiss domicile.

Antal Doráti is well known as a conductor within interested audience sectors, not least through the unparalleled range of his recording catalogue. But moreover, the Hungarian-born American has also left behind a compositional oeuvre of not insignificant proportions. The Chosen – as the work was named in English by Doráti – is his only stage work and is based on the mystery play Elija by distinguished philosopher Martin Buber (1878-1965). It was his mentor Doráti himself who drew the attention of Martin Fischer-Dieskau, initiator of this world premiere recording for ORFEO/NAXOS in Cracow and internationally acclaimed conductor and scholar, to this Opus Magnum.

FILM PREMIERE

mit Manfred Eichel

Videos

Johannes Brahms

Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor
(orch. Schoenberg)

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