DVD Videos

Set & Costumes by WILHELM REINKING

In 1964 Deutsche Oper Berlin still had no General Music Director. But Artistic Director Gustav Rudolf Sellner made a virtue out a necessity and – in addition to the permanent conductor Heinrich Hollreiser and the regular guest conductor Karl Böhm – brought in further conductors from home and abroad for individual productions. For Don Carlos he invited Wolfgang Sawallisch, who since 1957 had been making a name for himself at the Bayreuth Festival, above all with Tannhäuser and the Flying Dutchman and since 1960 had been acting General Music Director in Hamburg. He had at his disposal an ensemble of outstanding soloists. In addition to Josef Greindl and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, they included James King in the title role, Pilar Lorengar, Martti Talvela, Patricia Johnson and Lisa Otto as the Voice from Heaven.

Sound Format: PCM Mono

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitles: DE (Original Language), GB, FR, ES, IT, JP, Korean

Running Time: 155 mins

FSK: 0

Subtitles: German (original language), English, French, Spanish, Chinese

Recorded in 1981

Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese

This DVD release celebrates the life of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German lyric baritone and one of the most acclaimed Lieder performers of the late 20th century. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf called him ‘a born god who has it all’. He performed and recorded a great many operatic roles and dominated both the opera and concert platform for over thirty years, being regarded as one of the finest lyrical vocalists of his generation.

In these two concerts from the Opera Theatre of Nuremberg, recorded in 1991 and 1992, Fischer-Dieskau performs beautiful and dramatic Lieder by Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann.

157 MINS • ALL REGIONS • NTSC 4:3 • COLOUR • L-PCM STEREO

In 2012 the Deutsche Oper in Berlin had its centennial celebrations. Although today’s building was not opened until 1961, the history of the house on the Bismarckstrasse goes further back: it was built in 1912 and opened as Deutsches Opernhaus upon the initiative of a group of people from Berlin–Charlottenburg as the citizen’s opera in opposition to the Königliche Hofoper, now Staatsoper Unter den Linden. The fi lm illustrates all facets of the different eras of this Berlin opera institution from the beginnings until today through interviews with artists closely connected to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as well as a large variety of archive footage that also includes documentations of rehearsals and performances from the last 100 years.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9 / NTSC

Audio Language: Deutsch

Subtitle Languages: GB, FR

Running Time: 89 mins

FSK: 0

For its 100th anniversary the Deutsche Oper Berlin presents a special edition of live recordings – from the beginnings of television broadcasts from the opera house.

This special edition box contains the live recordings from the 1960s – treasures in black and white featuring the greatest opera stars of the 20th century in unforgotten roles and settings.

Sound Format: PCM Mono

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: 6 x DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitles: DE, GB, IT, FR, ES

Running Time: more than 700 mins

FSK: 0

Franz Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise was written late in his life. It is regarded both as a highlight of the genre and as the touchstone by which lieder singers are judged. To succeed in interpreting Winterreise is the artistic equivalent of a patent of nobility for a singer. The song cycle certainly became one of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s calling cards and it is probably this work that made the baritone an international household name. In this recording made for the Sender Freies Berlin in January 1979, we see two of the leading musicians of their day in the prime of their lives and at the very peak of their art and experience appearing together in the service of Schubert’s Winterreise. Both the experienced Schubert lieder singer and the Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel, known throughout the world for his authoritative interpretations of Schubert’s piano music – had performed Winterreise together frequently between 1975 and 1989.

In 1991, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau finally agreed to perform Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin at the Feldkirch Schubertiade - he had not sung the song-cycle in public for twenty years. The great baritone belonged to the innermost circle of artists who give this unique, Austrian festival of chamber music its distinctive character. He had performed Schubert there on many occasions, but never Die Schöne Müllerin. The pianist András Schiff was another long-standing member of the inner circle, but this was the artists’ first collaboration in Feldkirch – and so Austrian Television (ORF) recorded the concert.

BONUS: The Rehearsal & Fischer-Dieskau in conversation

Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 5 & DVD 9 / NTSC

Subtitle Languages: DE (Original Language), GB, FR, IT, ES

Running Time: 135 mins (performance) + 76 mins (bonus)

FSK: 0

In 1991, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau agreed to perform Schubert‘s Die Schöne Müllerin at the Feldkirch Schubertiade - he had not sung the song-cycle in public for twenty years. The great baritone belonged to the innermost circle of artists who give this unique, Austrian festival of chamber music its distinctive character. He had performed Schubert there on many occasions, but never Die Schöne Müllerin. The pianist András Schiff was another long-standing member of the inner circle, but this was the artists‘ fi rst collaboration in Feldkirch - and so Austrian Television (ORF) recorded the concert. During another Schubertiade a few years earlier, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was interviewed by music journalist Franz Zoglauer. The resulting documentary of singer, painter and private person augments the concert presented on this DVD. The singer speaks of his affinity to Schubert and the composer‘s influence on the whole Lieder repertoire. This is a unique occasion, not only for the listeners in the hall but also for the two artists, who experienced their collaboration on the podium as something quite exceptional. The viewer can see this in the artists‘ animated give and take, their spontaneous mutual reactions, the creative excitement and a rare artistic vivacity. Both remember the evening as a special event, and without any hesitation consented to the recording being issued on DVD to make it available to a wider public.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in conversation

Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 5, NTSC

Subtitles: GB, DE, FR, ES, IT / Bonus: GB, FR, IT, ES

Running Time: 83

Set & Costumes by GEORG WAKHEVITCH

The opening of the Deutsche Oper Berlin on 24 September 1961 is always seen in the context of partition of Germany, cemented six weeks earlier, and the construction of the Berlin Wall. The coincidence of the two events did not go unnoticed in the many press reports at the time, with most citing remarks about the city’s circumstances by the then Governing Mayor of Berlin, Willy Brandt: “Having experienced more in the last few weeks than in an entire generation, a city divided by a wall of coercion and shame is once again making music, producing theatre, staging fine international exhibitions and can at last open the doors of its long-awaited new opera house.” For almost twenty years – since the destruction of the former “Deutsches Opernhaus” in November 1943 – Berlin had had to make do with a makeshift stage. Although already in the early stages of a terminal illness, Ferenc Fricsay conducted the inaugural performance. Fricsay died in 1963. Staged by Carl Ebert, the performance featured a cast of singers unparalleled to this day, including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the title role, Elisabeth Grümmer and Pilar Lorengar as Donna Anna and Donna Elvira, Donald Grobe, who stepped in at short notice and built an international career on his performance, Walter Berry as Leporello and Erika Köth as Zerlina.

The inaugural performance of Don Giovanni at the Deutsche Oper Berlin is available here for the first time on DVD. The recording of the dress rehearsal on 23 September 1961 was broadcast on German national television simultaneously with the premiere on 24 September.

Sound Format: PCM Mono

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: 2 x DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: DE, GB, FR, ES, IT, JP, Korean

Running Time: 176 mins

FSK: 0

Franz Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise was written late in his life. It is regarded both as a highlight of the genre and as the touchstone by which lieder singers are judged. To succeed in interpreting Winterreise is the artistic equivalent of a patent of nobility for a singer. The song cycle certainly became one of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s calling cards and it is probably this work that made the baritone an international household name. Time and again his interpretation could be heard in the concert hall, at festivals, on the radio and on numerous records.

In this recording made for the Sender Freies Berlin in January 1979, we see two of the leading musicians of their day in the prime of their lives and at the very peak of their art and experience appearing together in the service of Schubert’s Winterreise. Both the experienced Schubert lieder singer and the Austrian pianist, known throughout the world for his authoritative interpretations of Schubert’s piano music – had performed Winterreise together frequently between 1975 and 1989. In a way, Fischer-Dieskau’s approach to Schubert’s Winterreise has become the touchstone for today’s singers. This recording of rehearsal and concert offer a glance into the development of a masterly interpretation of a masterwork.

Bonus: The Rehearsal - This 56-minute documentary offers fascinating insights into how Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Alfred Brendel rehearsed prior to their recording of Schubert’s “Winterreise”.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: DE, GB, FR, ES, IT

Running Time: 73 mins & 56 mins (Bonus)

FSK: 0