Strauss: Four Last Songs / Schwarzkopf, Szell

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf / Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, London Symphony Orchestra, George Szell

R.Strauss: Vier Letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs); 12 Orchestral Songs

Gramophone Magazine June 2010: 250 Greatest Recordings of All Time
Elizabeth Schwarzkopf was amongst the most renowned and beautiful opera singers of the 20th Century, much admired for her performances of Mozart, Strauss and Hugo Wolf. During her career, Schwarzkopf was much admired for her artistry and for her timeless beauty. She leaves a discography that is considerable both in quality and in quantity and will be mostly remembered for her Mozart and Strauss operatic portrayals, this recording of Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs, and her countless recordings of Lieder, especially those of Hugo Wolf. The Four Last Songs (German: Vier letzte Lieder) for soprano and orchestra were the final completed works of Richard Strauss, composed in 1948. The songs deal with death and were written shortly before Strauss himself died. However, instead of the typical Romantic defiance, these Four Last Songs are suffused with a sense of calm, acceptance, and completeness.

Price: $13.98