No other singer has recorded so much material with so indelible a personal stamp as Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. This first definitive biography provides a comprehensive and frank account of his extraordinary career. From his debut in Verdi's Don Carlos in 1948 to his farewell concert appearance in 1992, his life as a singer is traced, together with an exploration of his other artistic endeavors. He is a painter of uncommon gifts whose canvases have been widely exhibited, the author of several perceptive scholarly books on musical topics, and he remains active as a teacher and conductor.