Anja Harteros sings Beim Schlafengehen from Strauss' Four Last Songs

Saturday (Sept 8) marks the day German composer Richard Strauss died in 1949. He was of course one of the great composers for the voice, particularly for the soprano. And his last work, Four Last Songs, is musically sublime, not to mention the inherent autumnal quality that touches the heart. There have been many great versions of this cycle in the catalogue - my first favourite was Gundula Janowitz with von Karajan conducting the Berlin Phil. Then of course there were also great versions by Jessye Norman, Lucia Popp, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (particularly the mono version with Ackermann), and Soile Isokoski.  For pure voice there is also Renee Fleming (Eschenbach) and a recent one with the marvelous young soprano Aga Mikolaj.  To remember the great Richard Strauss, here is one with the divine Anja Harteros. I have had the good fortune of hearing her many times in Munich, and her voice is just stunning. Here she is in the third song, Beim Schlafengehen.  The violin solo is very famous, but sadly the soloist here is a bit short on phrasing and legato. But the fabulous Harteros is in great form.