The unchallenged champion of classical vocal, not opera, is Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Especially Schubert. My favorite story, which this doesn't quite repeat,

The unchallenged champion of classical vocal, not opera, is Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Especially Schubert. My favorite story, which this doesn't quite repeat, is that he was a German prisoner in an American POW camp after WW II, and the guards discovered his singing talent. (this story does have the POW stuff, but not his discovery. Maybe that's an urban myth.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Fischer-Dieskau https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Fischer-Dieskau