Strauss, R: Morgen mittag um elf! (from Capriccio) (Final scene, Schluss-szene)

A setting of poems by Hermann Hesse and Joseph von Eichendorff, Richard Strauss’s 'Four Last Songs' afford ultimate proof of Strauss’s unique ability to write soaring melodic lines for the soprano voice. Many outstanding Strauss sopranos have faced up to the challenge and now Anne Schwanewilms joins them, ahead of her Proms performance on 17th July.

She is one of the most sought-after Strauss sopranos of our day; a regular visitor to all the world’s leading opera houses and festivals, from Salzburg Festival and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, to the Bavarian, Dresden and Vienna State Operas. She has also been heard in many of Strauss’ works at the Cologne Opera, most recently at a recital in 2011, when she was joined by the Gürzenich Orchestra under Cologne’s general music director, Markus Stenz, which included excerpts from roles with which she is most closely associated. The valedictory tone of the songs contrasts with that of the final scene from 'Arabella,' in which Schwanewilms strikes just the right balance between the simplicity of the opening and the increasingly jubilant note on which the opera ends. In the final scene from 'Capriccio', this last-named quality is combined with the singer’s ability to achieve the parlando style ideally demanded by Strauss. In the 'Rosenkavalier' trio her emotionally-charged singing captures the Marschallin’s rejection in favour of a younger woman with an immediacy that is altogether overwhelming.

The acclaimed soprano Christine Schäfer is making her label debut for Sony Classical with a highly unconventional aria album. The arias she has recorded range in time from Handel to Messiaen, and in style from virtuosic belcanto to the drama of Verdi and the serenity of Richard Strauss.

Christine Schäfer’s first-ever recital of operatic arias is a carefully composed musical essay that combines popular and lesser-known works. This highly personal programme is no selection of greatest hits, but a journey of adventure in search of musical beauty. In the manner of a resounding essay Schäfer takes well-known but intentionally diverse pieces from the Baroque period to the present and relates them to each other in unexpected ways. Seductive as they are on their own, in this changed context each seems to have been illuminated anew.

The orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin under Julien Salemkour is the singer’s artistic counterpart and peer, and can shine in a variety of roles.

Speaking of Nina’s interpretation of the Four Last Songs, Pappano enthuses: “I trust the warmth of Nina's voice. There are a lot of lighter voices that have recorded the piece but you have to remember that Kirsten Flagstad sang the premiere and it's that kind of ample voice with warmth and body - Nina's voice - that I think is too rarely heard in this repertoire.”

Ana Mikolaj sings a selection of popular works by Richard Strauss and Mozart on this CPO recording. The prize-winning Polish soprano has been a student of Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, who worked closely with her on the preparation and interpretation of certain roles and of certain composers, notably Mozart and Strauss. Mikolaj has performed at Glyndebourne and many of the world’s opera houses and is currently performing in Carmen with Jonas Kaufmann at the Bavarian State Opera.

Producer and Audio-Restoration engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn.

Acclaimed as one of her generation’s finest interpreters of Richard Strauss (the composer himself identified her as his ideal Arabella), the Swiss soprano Lisa della Casa was blessed with a seemingly effortless, shimmeringly beautiful voice as well as an innate sense of musical style.

In the words of the distinguished critic John Steane: ‘Della Casa remains one of the best of all sopranos in Richard Strauss. Her voice has that touch of spring and silver that Strauss loved and wrote for; her tone will float and soar’.

These vivid recordings are essential for every collection.

No singer at the Vienna State Opera or elsewhere has been as closely associated with the title role in Strauss's Arabella as Lisa Della Casa, who celebrates her 90th birthday on 2 February 2009, and yet we should be guilty of doing the Swiss soprano a grave disservice by reducing her repertory to this one role alone.This point is well illustrated by an impressive portrait of the singer that is released as part of ORFEO's series 'Wiener Staatsoper live'. Lisa Della Casa took part in the opening performances in the rebuilt house in 1955, a bundle of nervous energy as Donna Anna under Karl Böhm, with Anton Dermota as Don Ottavio.With the silvery gleam of her soprano and her crystalline high notes, she was also a natural choice as Eva in Die Meistersinger, a role she also sang at Bayreuth and the Met. Here she demonstrates that she was capable of raising standards to those worthy of an international festival whenever she appeared with other world-class singers.The same is true of the closing scene from Capriccio under Georges Prêtre and of the scene from Arabella in which her sister, Zdenka, is played by Anneliese Rothenberger in an inspired piece of casting. As Lucile in Gottfried von Einem's Dantons Tod, under Josef Krips in 1967, she proved a worthy successor to Maria Cebotari, who at the start of Della Casa's career had recommended her younger colleague for more challenging roles.Von Einem's opera by no means marked a new direction in the singer's career: far from taking on character roles in the later stages of her career, she was still singing lyric soprano roles until shortly before she retired from the stage. A unique voice, with distinctive simplicity and even phrasing.

A deluxe edition re-mastered and remixed for SACD surround sound from the original acclaimed recording made in 1999.

CD received glowing reviews and is in the Gramophone Best CDs and DVDs Yearbook.

Steve Davislim is a highly sought after Australian tenor based in Vienna who has established a stellar international career working with the most prestigious orchestras and conductors in Europe, the USA and Australia.

Davislim’s voice is full of colour and warmth and informed in every note by an all too rare combination of intelligence and imagination: “it’s almost enough to make you believe in God” St Petersburg Times.

Recording debut of Australian-born Simone Young, recognised as one of the leading conductors of her generation and Music Director of Hamburg State Opera.

First of a series of five CDs that Steve Davislim is making with Melba, including Schubert’s song-cycle Winterreise and the world premiere recording of Saint-Saëns’ 1-act opera Hélène.

CD notes by distinguished Strauss biographer Michael Kennedy.

Digipak with picture disc and 30-page colour booklet with essay and aria translations.