Strauss: Tag und Nacht / Vier letzte Lieder & Songs with Piano

Richard Strauss (1864–1949) – Four Last Songs (Vier letzte Lieder) for soprano and orchestra. Songs with piano: Zueignung, Op. 10/1, Die Nacht, Op. 10/3, Allerseelen, Op. 10/8, Ständchen, Op. 17/2, Cäcilie, Op. 27/2, Heimliche Aufforderung, Op. 27/3, Morgen, Op. 27/4, Das Rosenband, Op. 36/1, Muttertändelei, Op. 43/2, Winterweihe, Op. 48/4, Waldseligkeit, Op. 49/1, Ich wollt ein Sträusslein binden, Op. 68/2, Das Bächlein, Op. 88/1.

Kateřina Kněžíková – soprano, Jakub Hrůša – piano, conductor, Bamberger Symphoniker

Today, Kateřina Kněžíková is a well-known name in the world of opera (Glyndebourne) and on concert stages (BBC SO, Bamberger Symphoniker, Czech Philharmonic, LPO, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, RLPO etc.). After her album Phidylé, which attracted considerable critical attention (Gramophone Editor’s Choice, BBC Music Magazine Award), she let herself be carried away by the world of Richard Strauss’s songs, full of micro-dramas, transparent emotions, and deep intimacy. Her partner and guide on this journey is Jakub Hrůša with the Bamberger Symphoniker in an enchanting live performance of the Four Last Songs, and –surprisingly for many – also in the supremely intimate world of songs with piano. The sensitive Lieder selection covers Strauss’s entire career spanning nearly 70 years. The composer’s songs bear the impressions of major events of his whole life and the atmosphere of his times, leading to the themes of parting and death heard in his Four Last Songs. Each of the songs is a perfectly polished gem, the beauty of which is enhanced by the extraordinarily harmonious interplay of the two artists.

The Songs of Richard Strauss – perfectly polished gems