Strauss: Four Last Songs / Orchestral Songs ~ Isokoski

Soile Isokoski (Artist), Richard Strauss (Composer), Marek Janowski (Conductor), Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Marek Janowski
• Composer: Richard Strauss
• Audio CD (May 21, 2002)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ondine
• ASIN: B000062TDA
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,908 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Strauss songs with orchestra, especially his final masterpiece, the Four Last Songs, have fared well in recordings, with compelling versions by Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Lisa Della Casa, Jessye Norman, Gundula Janowitz, and others of their caliber. But the Finnish soprano Soile Isokoski yields nothing to her distinguished predecessors. For some sopranos, Strauss's soaring melodies invite lingering tempos and arch interpretations that dwell on individual words and syllables, breaking the composer's long lines. Not here. Isokoski's sunlit voice and stunning legato illuminate music and text with restrained feeling. The Four Last Songs are taken at a perfect tempo, slow enough to let their message sink in, fast enough to let the music flow unimpeded. It's a lesson in the artfulness of simplicity, where less tinkering with the music equals more profundity and pleasure. The 11 other songs on the disc are as good, and while the quality of songs and singing is high throughout, it's hard to rid the memory of Isokoski's renditions of "Wiegenlied" and "Morgen!" once you hear them. But the same may be said of "Die heiligen drei Könige aus Morgenland" or "Befriet," among others. A disc to treasure. --Dan Davis

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Soile Isokoski's voice inhabits that special ether wherein it reinforces the high harmonics of the orchestra in a way that Strauss calculated with absolute precision. Although her repertoire is constantly expanding, Isokoski is a born Mozart/Strauss soprano. Her Donna Elvira is one of the outstanding performances in Claudio Abbado's 1997 DG recording of Mozart's Don Giovanni, and she recently made a ravishing New York Met début as Countess Almaviva. These Strauss songs are likewise at the centre of her Fach. The 11 individual Orchesterlieder reveal many of Isokoski's defining qualities: a seamless flexibility between registers in Ich wollt ein Strausslein binden and Sausle, liebe Myrte, with radiant high notes in Als mir dein Lied erklang, Wiegenlied and Befreit, as well as concentrated low ones of true soprano colour in Das Rosenband and Ruhe, meine Seele!. Perhaps only in the billows of Zueignung does one wish for greater refulgence around the voice's luminosity. She also knows how to become an obbligato instrument within Strauss's iridescent textures. There are a few moments where the effect seems overdone, but this may be partly a function of the recording balance, and Isokoski's musical impulse is essentially right. In the Vier letzte Lieder her real precursors are Dame Kiri Te Kanawa for intrinsic beauty of sound; Lisa della Casa, whose silvery timbre is closest to Isokoski's own; the earlier Schwarzkopf, patrician in tone but vernal of voice; finally, Gundula Janowitz, with whom Isokoski shares an ability to 'rotate' the voice through a spectrum of colours so that its finely wound core takes on increased amplitude. The fact that the present disc so readily evokes these classic versions is sign enough of Isokoski's achievement at this stage. With so much already there, an even more word-led delivery with crisper consonants would add texturing to her flawless legato line. But these performances are there to be enjoyed in the present tense: an eventual second recording of the Four Last Songs could turn out as differently valid as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's later interpretation. Marek Janowski and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra contribute in no small measure to the appeal of this release, whether in the shimmering accompaniment of Wiegenlied or the glowing epilogue of Die heiligen drei Konige. This is a very great treat for Strauss lovers and above all for Isokoski's growing number of admirers. Stephen Pruslin

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST 4 Last Songs in 21st century, September 3, 2002

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Wenarto Candra "wenarto" (seattle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Strauss: Four Last Songs / Orchestral Songs ~ Isokoski (Audio CD)

I have most of 4 last song recordings: te kanawa, norman, schwarzkopf, fleming, janowitz, della casa, auger; although there were great recordings (according to the experts) - but I believe; this is ONE of the best; the more I listen to this one, the more I am convinced that Soile and Marek are great team and express more sensible and sensitive feeling to the songs. Super highly recommended.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Shock of the Old Being Reinvented Anew, September 24, 2005

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Pater Ecstaticus (Norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strauss: Four Last Songs / Orchestral Songs ~ Isokoski (Audio CD)

The right kind of voice can make you fall in love - - and see the world in a new light... It happened to me for real once. And now it did again, sort of. This whole album sounds - as it always should, maybe, but which it so seldomly does - as if these songs, one after the other, are being reinvented, being recreated by Soile Isokoski! And the stunning playing of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Marek Janowski are the ideal accompaniment for Soile Isokoski's singing, which is velvety but at the same time clear like a bell and with a full and ringing high. From the gentlest pianissimo's to the greatest fortissimo's Soile Isokoski's voice just soars, with the orchestra always the equal of and supportive to the soprano's art, which is simply magnificent. Her art displays a deep understanding of and a complete familiarity with the words she is singing, combined with the clearest diction. The same clearness and freshness, combined with a deep richness and colorfulness of sound, is displayed in the playing of the orchestra, so it all fits together wonderfully!
This must be one of the best Strauss Lieder albums ever to have emerged and TMHO it can hold pride of place beside the great Schwarzkopf/Szell album. If Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is the queen, then Soile Isokoski must surely be the crown princess.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soile Isokoski shines in Strauss, August 17, 2002

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Nora - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strauss: Four Last Songs / Orchestral Songs ~ Isokoski (Audio CD)

The glory of this CD is the Four Last Songs, but the rest of the recordings are wonderful as well. It nicely mixes the often recorded (Zueignung) with the somewhat rarer, meaning that repertoire isn't just replicated.
Isokoski has a wonderful voice for Strauss; it resembles Janowitz in several aspects, not as solid or truly dramatic as Norman or Voight, but richer than Schwartzkopf. Throughout she sings without affectation, letting the accuracy of phrasing and command of line speak for her. She is assisted admirably in this by Janowski's conducting, which is well-described as 'transparent'. The Strauss textures which become thick and muddy in some hands are here allowed to breathe, so that all the lines can be heard.
The first thing noticed about the Four Last Songs is how comparatively fast they are in parts, especially the first one. But comparatively fast does not mean rushed, and the quicker tempi remove the veneer of sentimentality which has accumulated on these songs. Listening to that opening sweep in the orchestra as the voice comes in low, it's hard to imagine going back.
This is an ideal CD for a Strauss beginner, and any lover of the Four Last Songs or operatic/vocal Strauss must get this.