Strauss, R: Four Last Songs (Vier letzte Lieder)

“Furtwängler is in incandescent form in the Tristan excerpts, and even more so in the Dawn and Rhine Journey from Act 1 of Götterdämmerung. The music whizzes along with the most virtuoso contributions possible from the recently formed Philharmonia, the horns, headed by Dennis and Aubrey Brain, very much to the fore. Flagstad then sings the Immolation with quite wonderful freshness and conviction... The Tristan Prelude and Liebestod offer a similar frisson. Has the Prelude ever sounded so impassioned and urgent as here? Did Flagstad... ever convey so much tragic passion?” Gramophone Magazine, June 2007

“The world premiere of Four Last Songs in its best transfer ever, plus some previously unissued Wagner from the same concert.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2007 *****

“The urgency and purity of Flagstad's singing in these live recordings, made at the Royal Albert Hall in May 1950, bear witness to her extraordinary qualities, defying age - as indeed Wilhelm Furtwangler does in his radiant conducting” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition */**

“Here's a live recording of the concert in 1950 when Flagstad gave the premiere of Strauss's Four Last Songs, followed by some truly unforgettable Wagner; yet it's the latter that makes the CD so exciting.
Flagstad and Furtwängler had several collaborations in these Wagnerian excerpts, but caught live in very reasonable sound they produce performances that lift one out of one's seat. Furtwängler is in incandescent form in the Tristan excerpts, and even more so in the Dawn and Rhine Journey from Act 1 of Götterdämmerung.
The music whizzes along with the most virtuoso contributions possible from the recently formed Philharmonia, the horns, headed by Dennis and Aubrey Brain, very much to the fore. Flagstad then sings the Immolation with quite wonderful freshness and conviction, and this at the end of a longish programme. The results are to invoke thetingle factor. It is worth mentioning that the pair had just been giving Ring cycles at La Scala and seem entirely at one in their readings.
The Tristan Prelude and Liebestod offer a similar frisson. Has the Prelude ever sounded so impassioned and urgent as here? Did Flagstad, in her numerous recordings of the Liebestod, ever convey so much tragic passion? Probably not, and she is in much better voice than in the complete 1952 set.
The performance of the Strauss, previously available on the 'grey market', is now heard in improved sound; but Flagstad, for all the richness of her singing, gives a fairly generalised interpretation compared with many that were to follow, and the conductor was never the greatest of Straussians. Still, as a historic document this is an important issue. The whole disc, carefully remastered, is a treasure.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“a major Wagnerian” Financial Times

“It's a long time since we’ve had such a richly-gilded sound in this repertoire, darker colours in the lower register moving seamlessly to luminous tone above the stave… The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Runnicles sounds equally glorious, in warmly lit and irreproachably balanced sound that lends a striking realism to the individual colours of the woodwind solos...” BBC Music Magazine, October 2006 *****

“Schwarzkopf enthrals with her myriad of nuances and inflexions….there are so many instances when she moulds a phrase so memorably that one feels that this is the only way to do it…… Schwarzkopf’s recordings should be in every respectable collection.” Gramophone

“Strauss singing doesn't come much better than this. No doubt the composer himself, with his love of the soprano voice, would have been enthralled by Isokoski's glorious singing. He might also have approved of Janowski's straightforward, quite brisk conducting as he was never one to sentimentalise his own music. With a combination of free, unfettered tone, not a hint of strain in high-lying passages, a fine legato and an amazingly long breath, Isokoski fulfils every demand of her chosen songs. To those attributes she adds just a hint of quick vibrato, which she uses unerringly to expressive purpose throughout.
Add the depth of feeling she brings to inwardly emotional pieces such as Befreit, Ruhe meineSeele! and, above all, Morgen!, a perfect realisation of this oft-recorded piece, and you have performances to rival any of the greats of the past.
She reminds one most of Lisa della Casa, the first soprano to record the Four Last Songs, and Sena Jurinac. She has the same smiling timbre, the same natural style, the same avoidance of wallowing in music that contains its own proportion of sentiment. Try the ecstatic execution of the final verse of 'Beim Schlafengehen' and you'll understand. If, on the other hand, you prefer a more leisurely approach, there are always Janowitz and Karajan.
Janowski is obviously at one with his soprano, not only here but also in Zueignung. Refined playing from the Berlin Radio Symphony and an open recording complete the pleasure.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

'She [Felicity Lott] never loses sight of what the words are about; her vocalism is consistently poised and centered; and its no wonder that the wealth of commitment and knowledge shes brought to Strauss music over the years has made her a prime exponent of this repertoire.' Fanfare