Strauss: Four Last Songs / 15 Lieder ~ Bonney [Import]

Barbara Bonney (Artist), Richard [1] Strauss (Composer), Malcolm Martineau (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Malcolm Martineau
• Composer: Richard [1] Strauss
• Audio CD (February 2, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Decca Import / London
• ASIN: B00000I92W
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,094 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #17 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Bonney, Barbara

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful recording of Richard Strauss, September 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Strauss: Four Last Songs / 15 Lieder ~ Bonney (Audio CD)

I love this CD because there are many wonderful lieder by R.Strauss and Ms. Bonney is one of my favorite sopranos. Well, I like the version of Scwalzkopf/Szell, but this version is fresh and sung them beautifully.

I think this is a must buy for Bonney's fan as well as that of R. Strauss!

Now this is one of my favorite albums. Brava, Ms. Bonney!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring Strauss recital--a shame about the edgy digital sound, January 11, 2006

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Strauss: Four Last Songs / 15 Lieder ~ Bonney (Audio CD)

When Barbara Bonney moved over from Teldec to Decca, it was a major career move for a striking interpreter of Mozart, Schubert, and Wolf. This 1998 Strauss recital was a good choice. Like Hilde Gueden before her, another lyric-colotura who was heartwarming in Strauss lieder, Bonney has a lustrous, thrilling voice. It's not a voice one needs to hear for an hour in so much sweetly romantic effusion, but taken one group at a time, this is Struass singing of the highest order.

Bonney got the most publicity, and the most criticism, for doing the Four Last Songs in a piano arrangement not approved by the composer, who intended this work for orchestra. Bonney brings a wonderufl sese of the poetry, which we can hear thanks to the absence of orchestral density, so I was happy to have this version. It doesn't efface the original, of course, and listeners who are irritated sitll have the 15 exquisite songs that precede it. Malcolm Martineau, as ever, accompanies with great musicality.

The only drawback is Decca's overbirght sonics, which bring out the edge in Bonney's voice at high volume. I had to listen to this CD lower than I like, but that's a small price to pay.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Four Last Songs: A new vision. . . ., November 16, 2005

By 

Opera-rater "Christopher" (Fayetteville, AR) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Strauss: Four Last Songs / 15 Lieder ~ Bonney (Audio CD)

I have to disagree with previous reviewers about the Four Last Songs:
of course, one must be famliar with the orchestral version, but this
recording with piano turns a completely new light on the songs.
The piano, unlike the thick and lush texture of the orchestra, is
delicate as filagree, turning the songs into NEW pieces. I'm not
sure if Strauss sanctioned the performance of these songs with
piano, but they are exquisite. I'm not sure if Bonney could handle
these songs in their orchestral setting, but who cares?
She is a wonder of line, elegance, and phrasing. Her limpid tone
is consistantly delicious. I have recordings of the Four Last Songs
by Studer and Fleming in their orchestral setting, both wonderful
in different ways. BUT: I would not have missed this new
vision of these songs for the world. BUY IT.