Strauss had a lifelong affair with the soprano voice and many of his songs were written with his wife Pauline’s voice in mind. This collection brings together five songs performed with crystalline purity by Christine Schaefer as well as some more dramatic settings performed by Karita Mattila, concluding with Mattila’s reading of the immortal Four Last Songs (Vier Letzte Lieder).
RICHARD STRAUSS
Wiegenlied*
Das Rosenband*
Liebeshymnus*
Das Bächlein*
Morgen*
Gesang der Apollopriesterin
Freundliche Vision
Cäcilie
Verführung
Frühlingsfeier
Waldseligkeit
Vier Letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs)
Christine Schäfer, soprano*
Karita Mattila, soprano
Berliner Philharmoniker
Claudio Abbado
Recording producers: Christopher Alder (Mattila); Arend Prohmann (Schäfer)
Recording engineers: Rainer Maillard, Jürgin Bulgrin, Reinhard Lagemann (Mattila); Stefan Flock, Ulrich Vette (Schäfer)
Recording locations: Grosser Saal, Berlin Philharmonie, Germany, December 1998 (Mattila); Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin, Germany, December 1997 (Schäfer)
‘This is a wonderful compilation!’ Classical Source.com
‘fresh, lyrical and unselfconscious [Karita Mattila] … ravishing [Christine Schaefer]’ International Record Review
‘Schäfer sings the Strauss songs with a wonderfully silvery voice, a superb sense of line and a very old-fashioned feeling of pureness and focus … Mattila … combines richness with power and flexibility … she is superb, turning in a vocal part which is gloriously rich, but with a strong sense of line’ MusicWeb