Jane Eaglen - Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs; Richard Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder; Alban Berg: Seven Early Song / Runnicles

Jane Eaglen (Artist), Richard Wagner (Composer), Alban Berg (Composer), Richard Strauss (Composer), Donald Runnicles (Conductor), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Donald Runnicles
• Composer: Richard Wagner, Alban Berg, Richard Strauss
• Audio CD (March 21, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00004S38A
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #299,212 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Forgettable Strauss; Delightful Wagner; Near-perfect Berg, November 16, 2001

By 

Mr. Matthew J. Williams "mattjw" (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jane Eaglen - Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs; Richard Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder; Alban Berg: Seven Early Song / Runnicles (Audio CD)

I own eight other recordings of Strauss' four last songs (Schwarzkopf '53; Schwarzkopf '65; Norman; Auger; Studer; Janowitz; Popp; Jurinac) and all excel Eaglen's rendition, as do others I have listened to but not liked enough to buy such as Fleming; Della Casa; Te Kanawa; Bonney; Lott & Mattila. (She is better than Voigt; but that's not saying much.) But I did not buy this recording for the top billing Strauss, and neither should you. The Wessendonck Lieder are among the best; and the Berg is supreme.

I find Eaglen's luscious, soft but expansive voice a very enjoyable experience and do not find her passionless like some other reviewers. On the contrary, a noble, dignified, intelligent passion permeates her singing. The Wagner is better sung than Jessye Norman's rendition (coupled with her now-classic Vier Letzte Lieder on the "Phillips 50" re-release) and possibly reigns equal with the Cheryl Studer/Sinopoli on DG with the Dresden Staatskapelle (also coupled, incidentally, with an indispensable Vier Letzte Lieder). To cite just one delight as an example of the rest, listen to Eaglen lift to the words "Luft" and "Duft" in the third song. The sheer oxygen in her voice forces you to close your eyes and savour the soundscape.

If you aren't familiar with Berg's Sieben Fruhe Lieder (Seven Early Songs); it's time you were, especially if you're a fan of the Wagner/Strauss tradition of voice-as-instrument orchestral lieder. This work ranks among my favourite song cycles; other important versions are sung by Von Otter (once with Piano & once with Abbado conducting the BPO); and Bonney (coupled with Chailly's recent Mahler 4 with the Concertgebouw). None of these excellent alternatives should be sneezed at; but I enjoy Eaglen's voluptuous reading the most of all.

So if you came here looking for the Strauss; I suggest you look elsewhere; but I strongly suggest you acquire this disc for the Wagner and Berg, and simply for the voice. You may as well learn to love the voice of this lady now; for you won't be able to avoid her later - in the right repertoire she carries the hallmark of greatness, and the Wagner and Berg are the 'right repertoire'.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lush, pure vocal beauty, April 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Jane Eaglen - Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs; Richard Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder; Alban Berg: Seven Early Song / Runnicles (Audio CD)

I love Jane Eaglen's voice for its purity and velvet tone, its power and sweetness. She sings with little vibrato and hits the note right on, qualities I crave in a voice. To me, she has that special beauty of sound that I associate with Flagstadt or Nilsson. It seems to only comes along once a generation or so. I can't get enough of her sound!

The selections on this CD are beautiful in and of themselves, and she adds her unique beauties to them.

The engineers couldn't capture the power of Nilsson's voice with the recording equipment of her day, and I wonder if they're much further ahead today -- Eaglen's voice was never unleashed on this album. But these are intimate songs, and I enjoyed her remarkable piano control on this album. This from a woman with a voice to match her physique -- larger than life.

I was not as crazy about some of the orchestra's treatment of phrasing -- not quite as lush and lingering as I love. Surprising, beause Runnicles is great with Wagner. Well, maybe it's just me.

But whether you're a Wagner/Strauss fan or someone who loves beautiful voices regardless of the composer, you'll probably love this album.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jane Eaglen's Voice Exhaults Beautiful Melodies, April 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Jane Eaglen - Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs; Richard Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder; Alban Berg: Seven Early Song / Runnicles (Audio CD)

I was just about to go to bed last night, and was going to turn of my nightly relaxant, Minnesota Public Radio, when suddenly I heard a beautiful, soaring melody and had to leave it on. I hastily found a blank tape and hit record. The station was previewing Jane Eaglen's new album. The song they were showcasing was, if I am recalling my high school German classes correctly, "In Fruhling" ("In Spring"). While the three songs the station showcased were all sensitively and beautifully portrayed, the "Spring" song in particularly really turned my head for the beautiful, soaring high notes and the expressiveness in the melody line. Jane Eaglen's voice is stunning and far-reaching in its lyrical interpretation. I decided then and there that I was going to find this album. I'm going to order it as soon as I finish my review, and, after I listen to the album as a whole, I might come back and offer a fuller assessment. Still, it's not every day that a selection of songs so catches my attention that I forgo my sleep in order to hear all I can...It's rare to be able to recommend an album before I've even heard the whole thing, but then again, no album as of late has grabbed my attention like the songs I heard from this one.