Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs (complete), Gundula Janowitz, Karajan

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Four Last Songs (Vier letzte Lieder):
1.Frühling 0:00
2.September 4:08
3.Beim Schlafengehen 9:04
4.Im Abendrot 15:23
Gundula Janowitz, soprano
Berliner Philarmoniker
Herbert von Karajan, conductor
Recording date: 1974; cd issued in 1990 and 1996 by Deutsche Grammophon
Educational use only. No copyright infringement intended.
Picture: Portrait of Richard Strauss (detail), by Max Liebermann. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany.
This wonderful version of the Four Last Songs had been kindly uploaded already by another user, but the songs had been separate in four different uploads. The reason for the present upload is to have the whole set of the four songs in only one video, as they usually are performed.

[@TBClarkJr20]

David Bowie said, "I know of no other piece of music, nor any performance, which moves me quite like this."

[@arnoldamaral7406]

@@flavus_felix_ Google him my friend. 😳 You will be surprised. Some people have a very deep love for music of all genres. To them MUSIC IS LIKE BREATHING. 🎼🎵🎹🎻Take care Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@DAVEDIKIAN]

Did he really say that ?

[@loge10]

The man was perceptive. RIP...

[@loge10]

@@DAVEDIKIAN Yes.

[@MOGGS1942]

Then I have something in common with the late, Mr. Bowie..

[@georgefirk5531]

The maturity of her voice, the beautiful depth and softness of her voice made this my favourite of “ALL” Last Four Songs.

[@dennisschwartzentruber3204]

It's called emotional depth !

[@cskillet2003]

@@dennisschwartzentruber3204 It's also called talent! There aren't many singers who can do better than this. Her pitch is just about perfect... such a great performance and composition!

[@pattiwill]

Completely agree with you. There are many incredible recordings of this work, but this one is my favorite as well - and for all the reasons you have cited. Her voice is perfectly suited to the lieder, and her execution is utterly flawless. And the range of color is amazing....

[@toorooroo16]

No. 4 Im Abendrot was played at my late grandfathers Funeral, he had picked this as his farewell song, Still to this day i am completly and utterly moved by this piece of music. Tears stream down my face, not of sadness, But of joy for the wonderful life he lived.

[@euryloque1649]

Une des plus belles choses qu'on ai jamais pu enregistrer, une pure merveille.

[@juliedeparis9106]

Bonjour, quand la beauté le porte au sublime, témoignage de ce que la grandeur de notre culture et de notre civilisation a de subtil et de sophistiqué...lyrisme qui amène à de l'émotion pure...

[@pwieland]

Gundula Janowiz' lyrical soprano is perfect for these four last songs, like a high pitched bell without the sharpness in tone. Gets so deep into my soul that I feel completely drenched (in a positive way) at the end of 'Im Abendrot' that I feel in seventh heaven. Just beautiful.

[@edwardnah4718]

Karajan planned all on the voice of Gundala, It is too perfect to see surpassing this recording in future. Gundala has amazing voice of sentiment and dramatic both, and best voice for the last 4 songs of Strauss.

[@prabhudhasivanson7110]

Excellent, the best rendition in my opinion.

[@stefanufer608]

Karajan makes the strings swoop and swoon like no other conductor - it's just my opinion, but that's what gives this recording the edge over Norman/Masur

[@cmauer1658]

There is hardly any other music, especially Beim Schlafgehen, which moves so deeply. Yes many of Bach. But this is so special. And what a rendition. Gundula, the eternal 😇😇

[@arnoldamaral7406]

I discovered these songs in the early 80s in a movie entitled " The year of living dangerously " With a very young Mel Gibson Linda Hunt, Who received an Oscar for her portrayal of Eurasian camera man Billie Kwan. And the beautiful Sigourney Weaver. It was sung by Dame Keri Tekanawa . I have since heard so many versions & they are all special.Opera is my preference in music. But to me it would be foolish to just enjoy one genre of music etc. Just like my Very dear father Daniel Amaral & My Dear Daughter Danielle. MUSIC IS LIKE BREATHING. Take care 😷 Arnold Bourbon Amaral.

[@antoniocotzia8622]

BRAVISSIMI e BRAVISSIMA 🌹🌹🌹😘

[@MOGGS1942]

All a matter of individual taste, and I wouldn't dismiss other people's choices, but for me, Jessye Norman reigns supreme when singing these Songs.

[@karenswaine1077]

Thank you so much! Imho this is the best, the most beautiful, the most moving performance of the Four Last Songs. Gundula Janowitz holds nothing back as she soars above the orchestra - what a voice! And Karajan has brought out all the emotional content in these songs... bringing me to tears. (and it doesn't hurt at all that this recording was the first time i'd heard the songs!) Heartbreakingly beautiful!

[@TheSteveBerlin]

Shimmering, crystalline singing. Thank you for posting this version.

[@robertocarvalhodemagalhaes3648]

You're welcome.

[@ZackGasse]

Is there any better version, no, NO NO, I have gone through too many, and here I am stuck with the ULTIMATE.....

[@giovanniprimavesi8028]

Very good version yes, but Lucia Popp and then Elizabeth Schwartzkopf are better! Not only because voices, but also direction fo Szell, Solti.

[@stefaanbrowaeys4259]

as long as we agree this music is extraordinary and simply unique, there is just a difference of appreciation... and that is very good.

[@hostlangr]

@@giovanniprimavesi8028, Kirschen, Trauben, Ananas, Äpfel! Was ist besser?

[@MOGGS1942]

Jessye Norman, Kurt Masur, Leipzig Gewandhaus.

[@richardjx5442]

@@hostlangrSoilie Isokoski💥Check her version out‼️💥

[@manouchehr7]

splenid, immemse beauty

[@BalbirSingh-gr2qk]

Of course, immense beauty.

[@valerianoherrera7248]

Dios, que bravura y hermosa voz.

[@peterboalch5313]

still the best for my taste

[@stefaanbrowaeys4259]

this voice sounds heavenly clear and pure, it touches my soul every time.

[@Highinsight7]

@@stefaanbrowaeys4259 and such lit... expressiveness... pure vowels... NO ugly Edge... or out of control vibrato... The best of the BEST!

[@lennytyler1571]

The very best IMO, of a lot of of very fine versions. Understated, and i think does not go for the 'big kill' in the the higher notes, the best version i think.

[@luckyman1071]

Well said. And, agreed!

[@stefaanbrowaeys4259]

without any doubt that is certain

[@loge10]

May I concur as well.

[@hostlangr]

Kirsten Flagstad singt No. 4 Mit *Klavierbegleitung* gibt's eine *'technisch verbesserte'* Aufnahme: TBkPPCsjqZI *(Norwegian Radio 1954)*

[@enzopompeo6273]

Voce celestiale

[@franciscoespinozagamboa6490]

¡ que inmensa genialidad la del maestro R. Strauss! .-von Karajan y Janowitz los mejores intérpretes de este monumento de la música.

[@pwieland]

La voz de Gundula Janowitz es perfecto por estos canciones, como una campana de la soprano lírica.

[@e.guyait1747]

Version /interprétation extraordinaires.

[@a54109]

Thank you very much

[@philipkuttner7945]

I am often critical of von Karajan, but he is unbeatable at Strauss. And Janowitz has a special, silvery timbre--her Ariadne is superb. I have yet to hear a bad performance of these songs on KZbin, but this is one the best.

[@pwieland]

It is a really sad that there is no recorded version with Gundula Janowitz, with Sergiu Celebidache at the baton. That interpretation of these songs influenced by his meditative tempi would surely be out of this world.

[@johnferth4378]

I prefer this one among the many many very good ones

[@giovanniprimavesi8028]

Very good version yes, but Lucia Popp and then Elizabeth Schwartzkopf are better! Not only because voices, but also direction fo Szell, Solti.

[@saloncindy3884]

I concur.... celestial voice🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@Highinsight7]

me too.... Gundula... is just sublime!!!

[@peteowen3539]

I agree. Especially the third song.

[@gapont2]

@@giovanniprimavesi8028 I totally disagree. This is the best version ever.

[@johnrondeau8500]

How I wish there were a better recording of my voice teacher the late Soprano, Chloe Owen incredible artistry she could breathe Like no one I've ever heard. How I miss you my friend.

[@nickm3861]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHvVnXqrnNujopY

[@RODRIGOCESARBANHARA]

Magnifico!!! The best!!!! =DDDDD

[@mckavitt13]

My favourite is that of Lisa della Casa, but Janowitz is always impressive & does stop you dead w those sky-picked high notes. I am mesmerized.

[@cskillet2003]

The high notes sounded unreal at first. Great composition and great performance!

[@georgefirk5531]

This is beautiful.

[@BalbirSingh-gr2qk]

Beautiful songs.

[@dennisschwartzentruber3204]

Gundula takes you into the stratosphere !

[@sandorvarga2860]

This singer, Karajan, are near pchichadelic! This is just to nice to be teue, a releiving performance of Schtrauss's masterpiece, by the way, some gossip, he actually died 4 days after this dream was first performed!

[@davidbalasan]

In dusky vaults I have long dreamt Of your trees and blue skies, Of your scents and the songs of birds. Now you lie revealed In glistening splendour, Flushed with light, Like a wonder before me. You know me again, You beckon tenderly to me; All of my limbs quiver From your blissful presence! 3:21 September Hermann Hesse The garden is mourning, The rain sinks coolly into the flowers. Summer shudders As it meets its end. Leaf upon leaf drops golden Down from the lofty acacia. Summer smiles, astonished and weak, In the dying garden dream. For a while still by the roses It remains standing, yearning for peace. Slowly it closes its eyes grown weary. 8:00 While Going to Sleep Hermann Hesse Now that the day has made me so tired, My dearest longings shall Be accepted kindly by the starry night Like a weary child. Hands, cease your activity, Head, forget all of your thoughts; All my senses now Will sink into slumber. And my soul, unobserved, Will float about on untrammeled wings In the enchanted circle of the night, Living a thousandfold more deeply. 13:11 In Twilight Joseph von Eichendorff We've gone through joy and crisis Together, hand in hand, And now we rest from wandering Above the silent land. The valleys slope around us, The air is growing dark, And dreamily, into the haze, There still ascend two larks. Come here, and let them flutter, The time for sleep is soon. We would not want to lose our way In this great solitude. O vast and silent peace! So deep in twilight ruddiness, We are so wander-weary - Could this perchance be death?

[@franciscoespinozagamboa6490]

Gracias porla hermosa letra

[@mckavitt13]

David Balasanyan composer and pianist Many thanks for the beautiful lyrics

[@willgregory5847]

Very true words. He was 83.So beautiful.

[@stevenball8444]

just heard this piece on radio3. WOW

[@19melograno]

la migliore esecuzione

[@johankritzinger4206]

Great

[@MrGottlanze]

ganz einfacht wuderbar!

[@davidrehak3539]

Richard Strauss:Négy utolsó ének 1.Tavasz (Allegretto - Un poco piú tranquillo) 00:00 2.Szeptember (Andante) 04:08 3.Lefekvéskor (Andante - molto tranquillo) 09:04 4.Alkonyfényben (Andante - tempo primo - anche piú tranquillo - sempre piú lento - Molto adagio) 15:23 Gundula Janowitz-szoprán Berlini Filharmonikus Zenekar Vezényel:Herbert von Karajan

[@tiborvisi7438]

Köszönöm! :)

[@d3poln]

Excellent rendition, mellow and buoyant. But i do more prefer Schwartkopff / Karajan or Rothenberger / Previn.

[@mckavitt13]

Damir Rudan Strangely, rather an expert in the latter, do not have AR singing this. But I CAN imagine. She is the best but underrated due to her television show. Alas. A sublime singer. The best Sophie I have ever heard.

[@crawyler]

The DGG sound is not very good, the voice is too proeminent, Schwarzkopf/Szell is better, and most exstatic !

[@robertssje]

"Von Karajan was an elegant but superficial conductor." -Sergiu Celibidache. And this recording proves that. Stupendous singing however.

[@jorgemanuelbotelhoinfante2809]

There's no accounting for taste. I cannot stand Celibidache tempi (and his pretentiousness, for that matter, though this is a topic of hot debate amongst classical music community). On the other hand, Karajan has made a plethora of splendid recordings of all types of repertoire (Italian opera, 20th century Russian music, as a few notorious examples). Nevertheless, at his absolute worst, he only seemed to be concerned for the acoustics of the violins to the detriment of other instruments, and he could be shallow. I'll give you that.

[@richardlevin9907]

actually I wd level that criticism of Celi. HvK made gorgeous music, the only one today who could equal him perhaps is K Petrenko and R Muti.