BeschreibungLeontyne Price sings "Vier letzte Lieder" by Richard Strauss 1. Frühling 2. September 3. Beim Schlafengehen 4. Im Abendrot Staatskapelle Dresden Herbert Blomstedt, conductor UN-Concert, X.1979
I just came from watching the wonderful Lucia Popp with Georg Solti, and It's hard to imagine the same piece could sound so different and make such a different effect. First of all, the scale of this performance and the size of the voice in this repertoire are just overwhelming. Whereas Popp has a beautiful, expressive, conversational quality in the songs, Leontyne elevates them to a thing of wonder as a result of her vocal prowess. The power and clarity of the voice in the upper register is in a class by itself.
No doubt about it. The lady can sing! We are blessed. Thanks for this great posting! THE American Soprano bar none! Such beauty and no trickery in a studio. ARTIST.
Price Produces: Mother Earth, Mystery, Beauty, Culture, and the Peak of Human Civilization. I add an expression of Gratitude for this recording which soars far above all others I have heard.
Miss Price was 52 years old here, singing these brutally difficult songs (wide ranged, long phrased, and often very high lying) with a youthful effortlessness and steadiness which sopranos 20 years younger can’t match let alone surpass. As of 2022 there isn’t a single soprano alive who can even sing them anymore. Effortless, pitch-dominant, shimmering singing seems to have been permanently replaced now by forced vibrato/wobble-dominant singing. She also recorded these in the RCA studio with Leinsdorf about 5 years before this performance.
She is peerless. I was blessed to hear her at Ohio State Univ. Didn’t sing one note that wasn’t nigh perfect. We were in tears at the end of the concert. I miss her.
As far as I know it's not a cycle, never was planned as a cycle, Strauss didn't even put these beautiful songs together under the name "Vier letzte Lieder". So it is correct to applaud after each single song.
The best is Flagstad, for whom these songs were written, of course. It is sung by a soprano with a thick strong, lower-middle voice. Leontyne has that beautiful top.
Leontyne is known for her Verdi and Puccini, but shes undoubtedly a great Strauss soprano. Strauss wrote for a soaring sound, and this is pass Price's prime. But she delivers!
There is nothing “past her prime” in this performance. It was breathtakingly gorgeous throughout. This was a part of her prime period!! I’m sure she’d have select thoughts towards your statement….
@silvanero every singer has a height to their singing, there is no moment of bad singing. The voice has entered its mature singing years here. Her singing is marvelous and untouched to this day. At 70, her Bb was better than most sopranos today.
@@dantewalston2755 Yes I agree but you said such wonderful things about her singing and then had to ruin it by saying, “and this is past Price’s prime.” It wasn’t very nice because you are negating her singing here. I think she would tell you that she was still in her prime era. Who are we to judge such a singer?? Those kinds of comments are unjustified and not necessary. Furthermore, Strauss’ vocal masterpiece requires the depth of beauty and technical prowess which Price possesses here in this performance.
So sehr ich Leontyne Price schätze und liebe, aber das war keine allzu gute Interpretation. Zu abstandslos gesungen. Trotzdem eine Strauss-Sängerin par excellence.
@@PatateRoussoiste Certes, mon commentaire n'est pas très élégant mais malgré toute l'admiration que j'ai pour cette admirable chanteuse, je maintiens que son interprétation n'est pas des plus subtile. Une grande voix sans aucun doute mais parfois ce n'est pas un avantage; toutes ne sont pas Jessye Norman.
The voice is without doubt very great, fabulous but i don't think this interpretation is like her voice...a little bit like the orchestra..they all make notes perfect but there is no particular soul ....listen to Norman sing and you understand the difference...with Kurt Masur...and the public stay silent between each piece ! Not like here...
La voce di Leontyne Price e' luminosissima. Quella della Norman no, piuttosto cupa e massiccia e molto poco duttile. Sembra che pontifica su ogni nota. La Price quando vola sopra di tutti coloro che l'ascoltano. Spesso la Norman era piuttosto noiosa.
Yes, Jessye is more emotionally immediate and expressive but not as vocally assured, especially in the 1st and 3rd songs. I saw Jessye sing them in 1984, and she was not at all vocally convincing in Fruehling (lots of trickery and fakery), and sang flat quite a lot on top in "Beim Schlafengehen." However, her "September" and "Im Abendrot" were revelatory. I remember the last note of "September" pulsing like something alive and filling the entire auditorium despite the fact she was singing pianissimo!
