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| Wilhelm Furtwängler and Kirsten Flagstad |
Strauss composed the group of songs in 1948, when he was 84, asking that Flagstad premiere them. He was to die the following year. This recording is a transcription of the first performance from the Royal Albert Hall in May 1950. It originates from a somewhat noisy set of acetates that cannot obscure the remarkable performance from Flagstad, the greatest Wagnerian soprano of her time; Furtwängler, whom many consider to be the finest conductor of the 20th century; and the Philharmonia, one of the premiere ensembles of the postwar era. Flagstad's voice is astonishing in its effortless power.
For contrast, I chose the superb singing actor Elisabeth Söderström in an all-Strauss program that as far as I know has not been reissued. Her version of the Four Last Songs is complemented by scenes from two Strauss operas - the Marschallin's monologue from Der Rosenkavalier and the closing scene from Capriccio. While Sir Richard Armstrong and his Welsh forces are hardly as celebrated as Furtwängler and the Philharmonia, they acquit themselves very well here, and Söderström is affecting throughout the program.
I cleaned up as much of the noise on the Flagstad performance as I could, while addressing the balance and pitch problems found on the Turnabout LP I used for the transfer. The final measures of "Im Abendrot" are missing, unfortunately. The sound from the Söderström LP is good.
[Note (March 2026): both performances have now been further refined. The Flagstad recording is much improved.]
Söderström follows the published sequence of the songs - "Frühling," "September," "Beim Schlafengehen" and "Im Abendrot." Flagstad and Furtwängler had performed "Beim Schlafengehen" first and "Frühling" third. The sequencing is somewhat arbitrary - Strauss's publisher Ernst Roth had determined the order and dubbed them the Four Last Songs. Roth's sequence did not follow the order of composition, nor was the set Strauss's final work. He composed the song "Malven" later in 1948.
The download includes complete scans of the Söderström LP's gatefold cover, which includes texts and translations.LINK to March 2026 remastering of Flagstad/Furtwängler
LINK to March 2026 remastering of Söderström/Armstrong
9 comments:
Soderstrom was a "master" Straussian and an articulate speaker. Apparently her parody of Schwarzkopf was hysterical.
Thanks a million Buster for these 2 great interpretations.
The Söderström - Armstrong is, to me, a discovery.....an amazing one !
Thanks Buster!!
Thank you for these, Buster. The Four Last Songs are a special passion for me and for many of my friends (one of whom is determined to collect every recording of them ever released -- I haven't checked back lately to see if he's still managing to keep up).
The Flagstad versions are very special, even beyond being the premiere -- they're communicated on a scale that few can match. And yes, they observe (as did the Della Casa / Decca, the first official commercial recording) the running order first devised, before the later (and truly more satisfying) one was settled on.
@Rootie, all that you say about Söderstrom is true. I saw her accept a medal at a concert, and her speech was wittily modest: "I don't have a BIG voice... [perfectly timed pause]... but it's ugly." As for her Schwarzkopf parody, I think we can hear it in her rendition of the Witch for Sony's HÄNSEL UND GRETEL recording.
Thanks, all, for the comments!
JAC - Thanks for the wonderful anecdotes. I think I might have that Hansel und Gretel recording. I'll have to check.
Very kind of you.
A fascinating insight into the performing history of a 20th century classic - thanks so much Buster.
Buster, of course the R. Strauss work, and its historic performance, are acknowledged, universally loved treasures of the western world! But I wonder how tolerant you and your blog readers would be to second (nineteenth?) drawer Furtwaengler, both with respect to music and performance?
As such, to make a test of this, I offer one of my own eccentric faves: WF's 1943 live Berlin performance of Ernst Pepping's Second Symphony (if any person knows this, it will be acknowledged that the extant commercial transfers sound awful; I haven't worked WONDERS but at least have diminished some of the anguish in trying to experience it.)
My folder also includes some very extensive comments I once posted to rec.music.classical.recordings, years ago when Pepping and this rendering were virtually unknown.
https://www2.zippyshare.com/v/izWHNuQp/file.html
(68 MB zipped mp3 plus embedded Melodiya cover, and my year 2000 comments on RMCR)
Upload limited to a thirty-day distribution from time of posting, on 7/15/18.
8H Haggis
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