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From:  "Dre de Man" <dredeman@y...>
"Dre de Man" <dredeman@y...>
Date:  Thu Feb 8, 2001  7:36 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] weight AND SINGING


I just received an answer from Celia A. Sgroi,
the initiator of the Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau List, which I will quote
completely below:

On Thu, 8 Feb 2001, Dre de Man wrote:

> at another list vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com we are currently
> discussing the consequnces of weight loss on singing.

This seems to be a perennial topic where matters vocal are discussed . . .

> I remember a picture of the young DFD, who looked at least 35 pounds (15 kg)
> heavier than later. Does anybody know anything about why and how he
> lost weight, and did he ever say anything about the vocal consequences?

Being something of a connoisseur of FiDi-Fotos (-:, the progression goes
something like this: Immediate postwar - very thin indeed, up to about
1951-ish, then he gains weight steadily, reaching a peak in the
mid-1960's. Around 1970 he starts to lose weight. At first it seems quite
dramatic, but the weight loss continues gradually for about ten
years. From 1980 on, his weight seems pretty much stable at the low end of
the range, with the slight variations most people experience, I
suppose. It seemed to me that around 1985 he looked particularly thin, and
I always assumed there was a health-related reason for that. (Perhaps the
type II diabetes diagnosis and a radical change in diet?) I would guess
that he lost something more like 50 pounds from his highest weight, but
naturally that's just an estimate. He's a pretty tall man (190 cm --
about 6 feet, three inches) and even when not overweight he is built
big. I can recall newspaper articles likening his build to that of a
heavyweight boxer or a football (American) linebacker.

More to the point, I have never encountered any DFD comment on weight loss
and singing, either pertaining to himself or anyone else. He used to be
asked fairly frequently about the effects of alcohol and tobacco on
singing, and there he was pretty equivocal, only suggesting that excess in
either area was a bad thing. Ditto with respect to sports and strenuous
exercise -- being fit is good, regular exercise, like lots of walking is
good, some sports put too much stress on the muscles and are not good. A
moderate lifestyle, regular exercise, and lots of rest are essential. End
of sermon, as I recall it.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that sudden weight loss had any
negative effect on DFD's singing.

Just my $0.02, of course!

Celia

Celia A. Sgroi
State University of New York
College at Oswego
sgroi@o...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Fischer-DieskauList




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