Customer Reviews

Strauss: 4 Last Songs / Orchestral Songs / Rosenkavalier Suite

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have seven or eight versions of the "Four Last Songs," including favorites by Jessye Norman, Gundula Janowitz, and Lucia Popp. And now this one, which will rank with the best.

From the start, I was impressed with Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony, sounding for all the world like the most Straussian orchestra on the planet. The sound they produce - Ms. Fleming aside for a moment - is gorgeous, and the RCA recording is excellent. Eschenbach is clearly at home with the music.

Ms. Fleming is one of the world's greatest singers, and the chance to hear her tackle these songs should not be missed. Just sample the third, "Im Abendrot," and try not to be transported. Here is a great vocalist matched with one of the world's most divine, probing, soaring songs.

I can't say that Fleming's version of these is "the best" since there are many outstanding interpretations that I'd be unwilling to give up. But her artistry in these pieces is unmistakable. Highly recommended.

I find it unbelievable that one could place Lucia Popp anywhere near Renee Fleming as far as Strauss interpretation (or any other interpretation, for that matter) is concerned. Popp was musical, but her voice had a tightness that is very stressful to listen to. Yes, Fleming's voice is a chocolate bath - it is purple velvet, or a deep red wine. This music could have been written for her. In this recording, we have found the ultimate Strauss singer - yes, I think she does surpass Schwarzkopf and Janowitz . There is no hurdle in the score that she can't handle, and can't handle unspeakably beautifully. This is an absolute MUST!

Through the tears streaming down my face at the beauty and poignancy of "Befreit", one of the additional songs included beyond the Four Last, I wholeheartedly endorse this lovely recording. I have many (many) versions of Strauss's Four Last Songs and this is in the absolute top tier. Ms. Fleming's sweet/strong/rich/emotional/shimmering voice is just what the Old Master must have had in his ear as he wrote these limpid and luscious songs.

This cd has been in my possession since it was released and it never ceases to amaze me at how beautiful Renee Fleming's voice really is! Her diction is superlative, and she has amazing breath control (just listen to the 'Augen zu' at the end of September to hear exactly what I mean). Her recording can join the ranks of Janowitz, Te Kanawa, Norman and Schwarzkopf as an equally valid interpretation of this beloved song cycle.

At last! Since the great recordings of the Vier Letzte Lieder by Elizabeth Schwarzkopf with George Szell (EMI), Sena Jurinac with Fritz Busch (EMI Références) and Gundula Janowitz with Herbert von Karajan (DG) the recording industry was not able to produce another worthy and enough satisfying version of this Strauss' sublime and extremely difficult work. Fleming faces beautifully all the interpretive challenges, delivering an immaculate and meaningful reading of the work which makes evident a strong Schwarzkopf influence. Although all the four last songs and the extra five orchestral songs are little masterpieces of musical commitment and balance between text and music, my favourites are "Im Abendrot", "Befreit" and "Cäcilie". From the golden, velvety and magical tone employed in "Im Abendrot", going through the amazing legato and breath control of "Befreit" to the mighty power of the voice in "Cäcilie", Fleming rejoice us with one of the most superb albums of the last times. Brava! Brava! and, once again, Brava!

Through the tears streaming down my face at the beauty and poignancy of "Befreit", one of the additional songs included beyond the Four Last, I wholeheartedly endorse this lovely recording. I have many (many) versions of Strauss's Four Last Songs and this is in the absolute top tier. Ms. Fleming's sweet/strong/rich/emotional/shimmering voice is just what the Old Master must have had in his ear as he wrote these limpid and luscious songs.

When one thinks about Richard Strauss, the first things that usually comes to mind are his symphonic tone poems: "Macbeth"; "Don Juan"; "Also Sprach Zarathustra"; "Death And Transfiguration", and several others. However, Strauss, also wrote a fair amount of songs for voice and piano over almost all of his life, the number estimated at two hundred. Fifteen more songs were written expressly for voice and orchestra, and they show the composer having been able to expand the form of the German "orchestrelieder" beyond that of Mahler. Prominent among these are the five songs he wrote between 1897 and 1901 ("Befreit"; "Muttertandelei"; "Wiegenlied"; and "Waldsligkeit") that are grouped under "Orchestreleider", and the "Four Last Songs" ("Spring"; "September"; Upon Going To Sleep"; and "Sunset") that came towards the end of Strauss' life, after the horrors of World War II had devastated his native Germany and destroyed many of the concert and opera halls where he had flourished.

Renee Fleming, one of our nation's great classical singers, has the unenviable task of succeeding in interpreting these two song cycles, especially the Four Last Songs, because of the shadows that legends like Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig and Elizabeth Schwarzkopf cast upon them. But even if she isn't able to surpass their achievements (this would be quite a task for any singer, German or otherwise, to accomplish today), her achievements on this recording, especially on "Sunset" (which quotes a bit from "Death And Transfiguration" in the orchestra), are extremely impressive all the same. The demands placed on the singer in these songs are such that it's a badge of honor if they simply tackle them at all; and Ms. Fleming certainly does this quite well, with Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony Orchestra assisting. This recording, made in early 1995, concludes with the suite from Strauss' most celebrated opera "Der Rosenkavalier", really a largely unbroken string of waltzes that paid homage to the unrelated Waltz King, Johann Strauss (it is believed that this suite, which dates from 1945 and was approved by the composer [even after he had arranged two Waltz Sequences], was likely put together by Artur Rodzinski, who had served as music director of both the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra).

Even if we're not dealing here with an orchestra that has Strauss in its blood (like the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, or the Dresden State Orchestra), the Houston Symphony Orchestra still performs brilliantly just the same under Eschenbach's direction; it was under his twelve years as its Music Director that the orchestra, whose past conductors had included Leopold Stokowski, John Barbirolli, and Andre Previn, achieved its place in the pantheon of both America's and the world's great orchestras of today. This is quite clear to all who hear this recording of Strauss' three greatest achievements; and for that reason, it gets a big thumbs-up from me.

After the "Strauss Heroines" album, this is disappointing. After hearing that album, I thought that Renee Fleming must certainly have made a great recording of the four last songs. There's a name for this type of logical fallacy, but never mind. As someone who doesn't know diddly-squat about vocal music, I much prefer Elizabeth Swarzkopf or Leontyne Price doing these songs. (Actually, I think it's kind of silly to WRITE about music at all, though I did thoroughly enjoy reading the verbal battles among the opera queens below.)

This may be damning praise, but this recording of the "4 Last Songs" is good--not great, far from the best--but good. Renee Fleming sings well, if not rapturously (& anyone who knows this music, knows that it must and should be rapturous) but the Houston Symphony Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach is simply not first rate. Or perhaps it is the way RCA has recorded them? The 5 symphonic songs are perfectly ok and the suite from "Rosenkavalier" never quite lifts you out of your seat....and again, it should. I am not upset that I purchased this album, but i think that since I have other recordings (Elizabeth Schwartzkopf, Jessye Norman, Gundula Janowitz)I will let this CD gather dust on the shelf.

I am in total agreement with the one-star reviewer who complains that these Four Last Songs are fussy, slow, and mannered. Fleming's arch posing make Jessye Norman sound positively unaffected. The whole CD amounts to a showcase for Fleming's radiant voice, with no imaginative regard for the words (despite the fact that Fleming sings excellent German and studied there on a Fulbright years ago).

Eschenbach tries to outdo his soloist in treacly grandness. I found their performance impossible to listen to, and the same habits continue into the other miscellaneous orchestral songs, though a few escape being totally ruined. The Rosenkavalier Suite is spectcualry recorded and gets straightforward condcuting from Eschenbach.

Critics have adored this CD since its release, and I am completely baffled why. May those who enjoy it continue to.