Four Last Songs

Four Last Songs This is the special, deluxe edition! In addition to the Strauss program, a second disc which highlights Fleming's signature roles at the Metropolitan Opera is included. These extended scenes are drawn from her highly-regarded Decca discography. Renée Fleming, the world's preemin...	Souvenirs On her fourth album for Deutsche Grammophon, opera superstar Anna Netrebko gives a very personal and intimate performance of cherished lighter works. From sparkling operetta classics to seductive salon songs, each selection comes with a special memory for Netrebko. Netrebko is jo...	Gods, Kings & Demons (Opera Arias) The eagerly awaited DG debut solo disc from René Pape has arrived! The reigning operatic bass of today, Pape has created an international fan base with his moving performances on every major operatic stage. Pape has appeared almost every season with the Metropolitan Opera since ...	Arias By Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz, Gounod & Meyerbeer Hailed as the "Brando of opera," Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott joins Decca with a deliciously charismatic and seductive debut album. Showcasing some of opera's most famous roles, Schrott demonstrates why audiences and critics around the world continue to cheer at every pe...	Strauss: Arabella The first DVD of Renée Fleming The definitive Strauss interpreter of our time (Chicago Sun-Times) in one of her greatest roles. Filmed in HD (High Definition) Widescreen. Production by the venerable opera director Götz Friedrich Among the most powerful creative influences on op...
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Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss - Renee Fleming, soprano
This recording is sublime; Renee Flemings interpretation is outstanding and her German totally understandable. I've ripped this CD to my computer, downloaded to my MP3 player so I can listen as I'm Nordic walking and have a CD in my car!!!

A powerful live recording
The combination of Renée Fleming and Christian Thielemann is unique. Their performance has peculiarities, and is hot and strong. It will make pros and cons, that is, divide the evaluation. I found it is live, after I heard the audience cough when I was listening to this album. Recorded April 2008.

America's top soprano strutting her Strauss
Having heard Ms. Fleming singing 'the Last Four Songs' in live concert early last year, I am dying to hear her again in discography, and this album of Strauss including those four songs is indeed a most welcome offer. Fleming has a voice of good range with beautiful hues in ALL registers. The lower register is dark, with a shimmering quality that sets it apart from other dark but monotonic ones (I would name no names, but discerning listeners would all know). Her upper register is ample and full. On top of these qualities, she is able to use her breath in divers ways to convey emotions and add on expressiveness. All these qualify her as a top Strauss interpretor. Of course, comparing with Gundula Janowitz's Last Four Songs would show that the two top sopranos each has her own differing approach to these songs. Janowitz's is a silvery tone, thinner but more lyrical, while Fleming's tone is more golden and full, with great expressiveness. So, as for the question of which one is better, it is more a matter of taste than straightline comparison. In terms of breath control, Fleming is very very near to perfection, and the only singer that could be drawn to benchmark on these songs in this respect is Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Yes, Fleming's Four Songs comes very close to Scharzwkopf's, if not surpassing her. There are some other lieder by Strauss that Monsserat Caballe and others have recorded. And am glad to say that here again, Fleming compares favourably with those top interpretors. As for operatic arias, being a top diva, Fleming's powers of interpretations need not be doubted.

Love Fleming, most of the time....
First of all, I think Renee Fleming's voice is one of the great wonders in the world of operatic voices. My first reaction to this recording was displeasure. I could not figure out what was upsetting me. Then I realized it was the sound of her voice and its lack of balance with the orchestra. Her sound is almost too 'bright', and does not blend with the orchestra. I do not know the German operatic literature like some of the other interesting reviewers, but I do know what I like in "The Last Four Songs". I still prefer the Kiri Te Kanawa recording - where her pianissimi just melt into the orchestra. I don't know if this is an engineering problem or what - it sounds like the mike is too close to her - but good sound techs should be able to adjust it.

Strauss singing at the highest level of achievement
It says something sad about the current state of opera recordings that Renee Fleming hasn't been given a complete Strauss role on disc beyond 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 Guggenheim fellowship to study in Germany as a young singer, I believe, and her ability to find meaning in Hesse's poetry is impresive. I think only Schwarzkopf surpasses her in that regard. And Fleming can spin out a long pianissimo better than anyone since Caballe in her prime. Thielemann is also a much finer conductor than Eschenbach. He and his soloist have crafted a thoughtful, highly nuanced interpreatation that touches the heart of the music as well as the lsitener's heart (I couldn't say that about her earlier account, where incredible vocalism was the whole show). What other reviewers call overacting is actually expressivity -- Fleming obviously feels this music deeply and has reached that blessed time in an artist's career when she can fully communicate anything she wants to. Her Ariadne excerpts are poignant and rival even Schwarzkopf in beauty. My only criticism is that she starts a fraction off pitch and strained at the beginning of the Four Last Songs, no doubt because of the live concert setting. But soon everything is vocally in place. Contrary to what an e sour reivewr claims, there's little difference between Fleming's voice today and her voice 13 years ago. Time has been incredibly kind, and Fleming has repaid that gift by growing constantly in artistry.