Four Last Songs

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Four Last Songs
from Decca

Features:

• Deluxe Edition
• Extra tracks

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

• sempre meglio
  This set of glorious performances by Renee Fleming, both the older ones included on the bonus disk and the new ones, especially the new versions of Strauss's Vier Letzte Lieder, seem to me so fine as to be nearly beyond praise. Listening to them, especially after reading some of the more critical comments here, has taken me back some 50 years to when I was a young lad in LA diving into the world of great singing, all on LPs then. There was much discussion in those days about Renata Tebaldi and Maria Callas... more info

• A triumphant collaboration between Fleming and Thielemann
  It says something sad about the current state of opera recordings that Renee Fleming hasn't been given a complete Strauss role on disc besides Daphne, not the Marschallin or Ariadne. As evidenced here, she is uniquely gifted to assume those roles, as well as to sing Strauss's orchestral songs. Compared to her 1995 version with Eschenbach (BMG), the new one marks a quantum leap in artistry. Fleming won a Fulbright fellowship to study in Germany as a young singer, and her ability to find meaning in Hesse's... more info

• 'Habe dank!'
  This very generous two disc release has so many positive aspects that it hopefully will manage to garner the attention of music lovers around the world despite the negative comments being published in some quarters. Fame of an artist is accompanied by that very public eye and ear that references previous performances and recordings of repeated works as being superior to a new issue, and while that may gather the ire of some, it is simply part of the joy of encountering new performances: some boo, some shout... more info

• Overheated
  I felt that I could have written bert1761's review. From the opening lines of Four Last Songs, I was struck by Fleming's overwrought phrasing. If you are used to the liquid, soaring versions by Norman or other sopranos, you will find this almost post-modern interpretation jarring. She is surely going for acting the poetry instead of just presenting the listener with a pretty voice. I much prefer the older edition, especially as it includes a gorgeous selection of other Strauss orchestral songs and the... more info

Tracks:

1. Frühling
2. September
3. Beim Schlafengehen
4. Im Abendrot
5. Ach! Wo war ich? Tot? ...
6. Ein Schönes war
7. Es gibt ein Reich
8. Verführung, op. 33 no. 1
9. Freundliche Vision, op. 48 no. 1
10. Winterweihe, op. 48 no. 4
11. Zueignung, op. 10 no. 1
12. Zweite Brautnacht!
13. Eugene Onegin--Letter Scene
14. Rusalka--Song to the Moon
15. Otello--Willow Song...Ave Maria
16. Thaïs--Ah! Je suis seule...Dis-moi que je suis belle

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