“Highlights on the way include a sparkling Ständchen, a performance of Waldseligkeit full of impossibly long vocal lines, and one of Morgen in which the simple eloquence of Hrůša’s piano playing in the postlude is enough to make time stop. Then there’s the Four Last Songs, captured in concert, with Hrůša conducting the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in an interpretation that’s genuinely distinctive. Kněžíková sounds more youthful than many interpreters, her lower notes open and natural where others might aim for velvety introspection.”
The Guardian, September 2024
“The scamper through Strauss lieder concludes with the Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs), in which Knezikova glints rather than soars over the velvety Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. As tautly paced by Hrusa, there’s nothing misty-eyed or valedictory about this cycle, normally seen as elegiac; the soprano sings them with ardent, wide-eyed wonder. Sunshine beats darkness… the selection is hit after hit and the singing always evocative, the surges of Cäcilie thrillingly impetuous, the prayerful Winterweihe raptly intense.”
The Times, October 2024
“Jakub Hrusa se révèle ici un bien joli pianiste avant de retrouver ses marques de chef devant l’Orchestre symphonique de Bamberg pour les 4 derniers lieder de Strauss qui sont ici proposés dans un esprit allégé, plus inscrit du côté de la lumière que de la nuit, là où d’autres ont cherché la profondeur et la densité, Katerina Knezikova préfère les étoiles aux nuages. L’orchestre de Bamberg est lui tout à fait superlatif, coloré, chaud et chatoyant.”
RTBF Actus, October 2024
“Morgen, one of Strauss’s finest and most popular songs, is full of straightforward beauty, the voice not trying to be anything in particular, but just letting the song work its intrinsic magic which, for most Strauss lovers, will be enough… really the laurels go to the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, which sounds great with the subtle flickerings at the start of September, and the gentle expansiveness of Im Abendrot makes it the most successful song. Conductor Jakub Hrůša really gets the final bars, which sound completely gorgeous as they relax into the empyrean…”
MusicWeb International, November 2024
Richard Strauss
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1. | Zueignung No. 1, Op. 10 | 01:32 | |
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2. | Die Nacht No. 3, Op. 10 | 02:42 | |
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3. | Allerseelen No. 8, Op. 10 | 03:00 | |
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4. | Ständchen No. 2, Op. 17 | 02:27 | |
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5. | Cäcilie No. 2, Op. 27 | 02:16 | |
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6. | Heimliche Aufforderung No. 3, Op. 27 | 03:07 | |
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7. | Morgen No. 4, Op. 27 | 03:55 | |
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8. | Das Rosenband No. 1, Op. 36 | 03:16 | |
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9. | Muttertändelei No. 2, Op. 43 | 02:06 | |
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10. | Winterweihe No. 4, Op. 48 | 02:56 | |
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11. | Waldseligkeit No. 1, Op. 49 | 03:07 | |
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12. | Ich wollt ein Sträusslein binden No. 2, Op. 68 | 02:52 | |
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13. | Das Bächlein No. 1, Op. 88 | 02:00 | |
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Vier letzte Lieder
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14. | Frühling | 03:10 | |
15. | September | 04:31 | |
16. | Beim Schlafengehen | 05:23 | |
17. | Im Abendrot | 07:51 |