Richard STRAUSS (1864 – 1949)
Orchestral Songs
1. Traum durch die Dämmerung (Dreaming in the twilight), Op. 29, No.
1 [2:27]
2. Wiegenlied (Lullaby/Cradle Song), Op. 41, No. 1 [3:51]
3. Meinem Kinde (To My Child), Op. 37, No. 3 [2:50]
4. Gesang der Apollopriesterin (Song of the priestess of Apollo), Op. 33,
No. 3 [5:42]
5. Allerseelen (All Soul’s Day), Op. 10, No. 8 [3:12]
6. Ruhe, meine Seele (Be still, my soul!), Op. 27, No. 1 [3:49]
7. Cäcilie (Cecilia), Op. 27, No. 2 [2:20]
8. Mein Auge (My eye), Op. 37, No. 4 [2:35]
9. Waldseligkeit (Woodland Bliss), Op. 49, No. 1 [3:19]
10. Morgen! (Tomorrow!), Op. 27, No. 4 [3:42]
11. Befreit (Released), Op. 39, No. 4 [5:57]
Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs), Op. posth (1948)
12. Frühling (Spring) [3:48]
13. September [5:25]
14. Beim Schlafengehen (Going to Sleep) [5:37]
15. Im Abendrot (At Sunset) [8:00]
Michaela Kaune (soprano)
NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Hanover/Eiji Oue
rec. live, 6-7 May 2004, Large Studio of the NDR National Broadcasting Station,
Hanover, Germany (tracks 1-11). 15-17 November 2004, St. Athanasius Kirche,
Hanover, Germany (tracks 12-15)
BERLIN CLASSICS 0017812BC [62:32]
Occasionally you come across a recording that is new to you although it has
been in the catalogue for several years. You marvel at its quality wondering
why you haven’t heard it before. Sung by soprano Michaela Kaune this outstanding
CD is one of those discs.
Recently I watched a 2006 archive broadcast from the Berlin Philharmonic’s
Digital Concert Hall. It was Sir Mark Elder’s delightful semi-staged
performance of Humperdinck’s opera Hansel and Gretel - abridged children
version aimed at children - from the Philharmonie. The performance is currently
available to watch free of charge. Highlights can be seen in a trailer on
their Digital Concert Hall. Link: http://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/64
I was struck by the outstanding acting and stunning soprano voice of Michaela
Kaune in the role of Gretel. Consequently I began looking for Kaune recordings
and this Berlin Classics disc is the result.
Although Hamburg-born Kaune performs internationally she has tended to concentrate
on operatic roles in her native Germany. She joined the Deutsche Oper in Berlin
as far back as the 1997/8 season and has played numerous roles there including
Micaëla in Carmen, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Marguerite in
Faust, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, the Countess in Le nozze
di Figaro, Anna in Marschner’s Hans Heiling, Euridice in Orfeo
ed Euridice and the title role in Arabella. Not surprisingly, she
has appeared in many of Europe’s major opera houses. Notably in 2008 she made
her debut at the Bayreuth Festspiele singing Eva in Katharina Wagner’s production
of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. More recently in the Deutsche Oper
Berlin’s 2010/11 season she was the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro,
Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites and Ariadne in Ariadne
auf Naxos. This season she has taken the part of the Marschallin in Der
Rosenkavalier at the Deutsche Oper Berlin where she is also to assume
the title role in Janáček’s Jenůfa in January 2012.
On this excellent Berlin Classics disc the feature work is the Four
Last Songs. These were composed in 1948, a year before the composer’s
death. They were posthumously published. Not surprisingly these masterworks
have been recorded on numerous occasions and the competition in the catalogues
is particularly fierce. Since its release in 2006 Kaune’s recording has rather
fallen under the radar with higher profile sopranos on major labels such as
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Jessye Norman and Renée Fleming taking centre-stage.
Strauss’s Four Last Songs are often classed as being amongst the most
haunting and moving music that has ever been composed. To me this is an autumnal
work, suffused with nostalgia, the colours of sunset and the experience of
a long, productive and controversial life. The settings of Hermann Hesse (the
first three songs) and Joseph von Eichendorff (the fourth song) contemplate
Spring (Frühling), September, Going to Sleep (Beim
Schlafengehen) and At Sunset (Im Abendrot). It was in 1950
at London’s Royal Albert Hall when the great Wagnerian soprano Kirsten Flagstad
gave the world première accompanied by the Philharmonia under Wilhelm Furtwängler.
Michaela Kaune’s bright and creamy-toned voice has considerable amplitude
with impeccable diction and the natural ability to capture the spirit of the
texts. Undoubtedly these Strauss songs have been performed more sumptuously
and by voices with more honey and silk but they have surely never been expressed
in a more genuinely heart-felt way or with more radiance. The German soprano
seems comfortable right across her range. She has the ability to glide up
to the highest notes with alarming ease and her light vibrato is never obtrusive.
With all this assurance and drama communicated it is not difficult to accept
that Kaune is a natural actress.
Lightly scored, the rocking accompaniment to Wiegenlied (Lullaby/Cradle
Song) is provided by a mere seven strings. The assured Kaune is quite enchanting.
This is the finest performance of Wiegenlied that I have heard. Credit
is due to the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Eiji Oue for their rich
and full accompaniment in Gesang der Apollopriesterin (Song of the
priestess of Apollo) here sung so dramatically. The perfume of rose petals
is evoked by the captivating interpretation of Allerseelen (All Soul’s
Day) and in the passionate setting Cacilie (Cecilia) the sumptuous,
sweet-toothed accompaniment is remarkable. Kaune’s atmospheric rendition of
the justly celebrated Morgen! (Tomorrow!) is as tender and soft as
feather-down with a plaintive violin solo that suggests weeping tears.
Throughout Vier letzte Lieder Kaune displays ravishing vocal quality
with a wide range of tone colour. It seems appropriate that Oue refrains from
rushing proceedings along and allows the music to breathe. I especially enjoyed
the radiantly performed Frühling (Spring) with the voice soaring with
consummate ease. The horn solo in September is quite magical. Opened
by low dark strings in Beim Schlafengehen (Going to Sleep) the powerful
climax as the singer depicts the re-awakening subject is remarkable in force.
It makes the hairs stand up on the back of the neck. The violin solo at 1:44
has never sounded as meltingly beautiful. In the shimmering Im Abendrot
(At Sunset) Kaune confidently conveys Strauss’s intense and wearying emotions
implying reconciliation in the face of approaching death. The eleven orchestral
songs were impressively recorded at a live concert at the large studio of
the NDR National Broadcasting Station, Hanover. No applause has been left
in and there is little unwanted noise to detract from the enjoyment. Recorded
at St. Athanasius Church, Hanover the Four Last Songs are marginally
less vivid.
Of the alternative versions in the catalogue I remain an admirer of the enthralling
and award-winning 1982 Leipzig account of the Four Last Songs performed
by Jessye Norman. Kurt Masur conducts the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Norman’s warmly
passionate interpretation is outstanding. Taken by Kurt Masur at measured
pace Norman displays a driven desire for high drama. My version is on Philips
411 052-2 (c/w Strauss 6 Orchestral Songs). Renée Fleming with the
Munich Philharmonic under Christian Thielemann on Decca 478 0647 is sumptuous
and highly moving. Depending on my mood I can find Fleming’s approach a touch
over-sentimental, even cloying. It is coupled with Strauss’s 4 Orchestral
Songs, 3 Songs from Ariadne auf Naxos and 1 song from
Die ägyptische Helena. Much lamented since her untimely death
Lucia Popp made a most heart-rending London recording in 1982 with Klaus Tennstedt
conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra. My account is found on the compilation
double set ‘The Very Best of Lucia Popp’ EMI Classics 5 85102 2.
I fully agree with the substantial crowd of admirers of the award-winning
version from the assured Soile Isokoski. She possesses a firm and silvery
timbre. Isokoski does however lose a touch of intensity and warmth at the
expense of her cool precision. Isokoski’s 2001 recording was made in Berlin
with Marek Janowski and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra on Ondine ODE
982-2 (c/w Strauss 11 Orchestral Songs). A lesser known but outstanding
account comes from Anja Harteros and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
under Mariss Jansons on BR Klassik 900707 (c/w Strauss Rosenkavalier Suite,
Till Eulenspiegels). Recorded live in 2009 at the Munich Philharmonie
Harteros’s warm and expressive tone conveys impressive sincerity and gravitas.
I also rate highly the captivating version from Cheryl Studer. Her creamy
texture and warmly expressive tones are complemented by the Dresden Staatskapelle
under Giuseppe Sinopoli. Studer made the recording in Dresden in 1993 on Deutsche
Grammophon 439 865-2. The valuable coupling includes Studer’s marvellous performance
of Wagner’s 5 Wesendonk Lieder and the Vorspiel and Liebestod
from Tristan und Isolde. Two other splendid versions worthy of consideration
are from: Gundula Janowitz who sings beautifully taking great care with the
meaning of the text. Janowitz is accompanied by the Berlin Philharmonic under
Karajan recorded in 1973 in Berlin; it’s on Deutsche Grammophon ‘The Originals’
447 422-2 (c/w Tod und Verklärung and Metamorphosen). There
is also the powerful and dramatically sung 2007 release from Nina Stemme who
is one of the younger sopranos on the scene today. I did find her heavy vibrato
rather wearing. Stemme is accompanied by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden under Antonio Pappano. It’s on EMI Classics 378 7972
(c/w Strauss final scenes from Capriccio and Salome).
Of the older accounts a confident recommendation must go to Elisabeth Schwarzkopf’s
recording with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under George Szell. For
this stunning version Schwarzkopf, then in her fifties, demonstrates a tremendous
range of interpretative insights with a voice of heavenly beauty. This truly
classic recording from Berlin in 1965 is on an excellent digitally re-mastered
disc of Great Recordings of the Century EMI Classics 5 66908 2 (c/w
Strauss 12 Orchestral Songs).
For Berlin Classics Michaela Kaune proves a thoughtful and radiantly beautiful
interpreter. Fingers crossed for a future recording by of Wagner’s Wesendonck
Lieder.
Michael Cookson
Masterwork Index: Four
Last Songs
Thoughtful and radiantly beautiful.