Strauss: Four Last Songs / Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Gundula Janowitz had a very beautiful voice that critics like to describe as "creamy," whatever that means. Strauss had a life-long love affair with the soprano voice. He even married one--not just the voice, the whole woman, of course. His Four Last Songs constitute his dying tribute, and they are probably the most hedonistically gorgeous vocal works in existence. Herbert vo Karajan was a Strauss specialist, as was Janowitz, and together they contrive to perform the songs about as perfectly as they ever have been. The couplings, two orchestral works from the beginning and end of Strauss's career, are quite appropriate: the last of the Four Songs quotes the "Transfiguration" theme from the tone poem. --David Hurwitz
Customer Reviews
Four Last, near best
There are many fine versions of Strauss's Four last Songs. This is among the best. Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic have a special affinity for Strauss and Janowitz sings these songs with unadorned beauty.
Middle of the road Strauss
The Four Last Lieder recorded by Janowitz and Karajan have always raised controversy. Some listeners admire their perfection (orchestral, at least), but Janowitz's singing has often been criticized for being more pretty than meaningful. I cannot but agree - listen to either of the Schwarzkopf studio recordings (there is also a live one with Karajan available) to measure all you have been missing out with Janowitz! These poems depict the retrospective look of a woman upon her experience of life as she approaches the end of the path - and all that Janowitz ever does here is clinical, detached singing, almost devoid of all humanity.
Karajan's Metamorphosen have often been praised for their orchestral beauty - but to be fair he here mainly uses this work as a demonstration of orchestral virtuosity and beauty of tone from the BPO's string section. His subsequent 1980s recording is much more human and telling, to say nothing of his deeply moving first recording with the VPO for EMI in 1946 - the first recording ever of the Metamorphosen. The second one was Furtwangler in October 1947 (a surprisingly flowing account from this conductor, at 23'), and both recordings along with the ones of Klemperer and Kempe on EMI glow with tragedy and a fatal sense of loss.
Karajan's achievement in Death and Transfiguration is more convincing. At 27' this is one of the longest recorded performances ever, but one that does not lack contrast (the recollection of past events is a trifle self-indulging though). I wouldn't want to be without Klemperer though.
This CD will probably attract many newcomers (which one with Karajan and the BPO wouldn't?), but it would really be very sad if they only knew the Vier letzte Lieder and Metamorphosen through these recordings. The meaning of these works is quite simply not conveyed here.
Transfigured Strauss
There's a reason why so many people love this disc--no one knows of a more gorgeous rendering of the Metamorphosen, Tod und Verklarung is sublime, the Four Last Songs are right up there with Schwarzkopf/Szell and Norman/Masur and Karajan, the BPO and DG engineers with burnished analog sound were never more in sync.
Rarely do you have such perfection of composer, conductor, musicians and the technicians that bring it all onto vinyl and then compact disc.
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