Renée Fleming: Lieder by Richard Strauss
• Recorded live at the Salzburg Festival, August 2011
The Salzburg Festival has a long-standing reputation as an outstanding place for musical events. And this concert honors one of its founding fathers, Richard Strauss.
Renée Fleming, Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra unite for a program of song, opera and a tone poem, which are central to the composer’s extraordinarily fruitful career.
The specific works performed on this DVD are:
Strauss, R:
- Befreit, Op. 39 No. 4
Renée Fleming (soprano)
- Winterliebe Op. 48 No. 5
Renée Fleming (soprano)
- Traum durch die Dämmerung, Op. 29 No. 1
Renée Fleming (soprano)
- Gesang der Apollopriesterin Op. 33 No. 2
Renée Fleming (soprano)
- Arabella: excerpts
Renée Fleming (soprano)
- Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64
Performed with the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Christian Thielemann
Renee Fleming performs for us four of Strauss’ songs with orchestra, including the deeply moving “Befreit”, and she also provides the concluding scene from Act 1 of Strauss’ opera, Arabella.
Renee Fleming opens this concert and she shows us her heart-felt expression and meaning. Her opening performance of the song ‘Befreit’ is especially moving. Ms. Fleming’s voice is glowing and amazingly well-suited for this music.
After the songs are concluded, Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic take the spectacular mountain journey mapped by the composer in his amazing “Alpine Symphony”.
I have never admired Mr. Thielemann’s conducting style, and this performance does not change my mind. But I feel that he has achieved excellent results with this Tone Poem. My sense is, however, that the VPO likely can play this music without a conductor at all.
Here is the Strauss song ‘Befreit’ (“Freed”), with Renée Fleming, soprano, and the Wiener Philharmoniker Christian Thielemann, conductor; Recorded at Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 2011
http://youtu.be/guDV9VRrlCg
And now the same artists perform Winterliebe (“Winter Love”) by Strauss
http://youtu.be/Av_zcHJE59w
Tags: Richard Strauss, Salzburg concert, Renee Fleming, Vienna Philharmonic