In memoriam: German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau dies
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, pictured in 1960. Photograph: Jean-Regis Rouston/Roger Viollet/Getty Images
Tributes for artist regarded as finest lieder singer of his generation and titan of classical music
Mark Brown, arts correspondent
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the hugely influential baritone and a man regarded by many as the greatest lieder singer of the 20th century, has died at his home in Bavaria, aged 86.
Fischer-Dieskau was a true giant of opera, once described by the soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as "a born god who has it all".
His wife, Julia Varady, said he had died on Friday just 10 days short of his 87th birthday.
The Canadian baritone Gerald Finley tweeted: "Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: made it seem effortless and natural. To hear him live was greatest thrill and inspiration."
Fischer-Dieskau retired from singing in 1992 after an astonishing 50-year career with numerous highlights including, at Benjamin Britten's invitation, singing in the world premier of War Requiem at the newly built Coventry Cathedral in 1962.
He was perhaps most famous for his interpretations of lieder, the German art songs written for solo voice and piano, which he recorded on a regular basis.
His name will always be linked to his performances of Schubert's song cycle Winterreise, which he performed publicly for the first time in 1943, aged 17.
In an interview with the Guardian's Martin Kettle in 2005, he recalled how RAF bombs interrupted his performance. "We had a terrible bombing of the city that day and the whole audience of 200 people and myself had to go into the cellar for two and a half hours. Then when the raid was over we came back up and resumed."
Fischer-Dieskau performed only three times at the Royal Opera House, twice as Mandryka in Strauss's Arabella in 1965 and 1967, and once in the title role of Falstaff in 1967.
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