Fischer-Dieskau’s last operatic role was Falstaff, in 1992, and he retired from the concert platform the following year. But he continued to lead a hectically busy life as lecturer and author of, among other things, a study of Nietzsche’s relationship to Wagner. In his later years he observed stoically that he was being forgotten, but the constant reissue of his recordings on CD suggests otherwise. For young singers like Ian Bostridge he is still the model to aspire to. And for those of us who love art-song, his recordings are like a companion one wants to keep for life.