So it's not complete:
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau couldn't sing all the exquisite songs intended for women and wouldn't sing all the interminable ballades. But that's fine: there are plenty of great recordings of the songs for women and if anyone really wants to hear the ballades, there's
Graham Johnson's superb
Schubert edition. But, aside from those small quibbles,
Fischer-Dieskau's ten-disc set of
Schubert's songs from 1811 through 1817 is as complete as it needs to be and as great as humanly possible. That
Fischer-Dieskau is the voice of German Lieder in later years is beyond argument. That he was the greatest singer of
Schubert's Lieder is beyond question. That this set of performances is a labor of heart, mind, soul, and spirit is beyond doubt. That it is one of the greatest sets of recordings ever made fit to stand beside
Furtwängler's Tristan,
Sinatra's Only the Lonely, and the Beatles' Abbey Road is one of the immutable truths of recording history. Anyone who loves
Schubert should hear this set.