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Strauss: Four Last Songs

Rachel Willis-Sørensen (soprano), Sebastian Pilgrim (baritone)

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons

‘September’ and ‘Beim Schlafengehen’ are the two most successful interpretations of the four, where there’s a real engagement with the text and an authoritative way with phrasing from both Willis-Sørensen...

Strauss: Four Last Songs

Rachel Willis-Sørensen (soprano), Sebastian Pilgrim (baritone)

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons

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‘September’ and ‘Beim Schlafengehen’ are the two most successful interpretations of the four, where there’s a real engagement with the text and an authoritative way with phrasing from both Willis-Sørensen...

About

Sony Classical International proudly announces the second solo album by American soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen, “Strauss - Four Last Songs”. Presenting works of Richard Strauss’s later years, Willis-Sørensen’s latest release pairs the composer’s sublime Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs) with the closing scene of his final opera, Capriccio. Renowned conductor Andris Nelsons leads the Gewandhausorchester and German bass Sebastian Pilgrim joins Willis-Sørensen for the Capriccio scene.

The album follows up on the soprano’s Sony Classical debut, an aria recital entitled “Rachel”, released last year to unanimous international praise. Gramophone magazine recommended the album as “a rewarding and intelligent debut from a very fine singer”, while Germany’s Das Opernglas noted that “Willis-Sørensen sings marvellously with her beautifully shimmering, silvery, well-rounded soprano voice, whose slight vibrato enhances the emotions expressed.”

The new album reveals Willis-Sørensen’s mastery of some of the greatest vocal and interpretive challenges in Strauss. A luminous, long-lined lyricism characterises the Four Last Songs, which together comprise what Willis-Sørensen views as “a parable for life. Musically speaking, you have the expectation of one particular harmonic resolution, and then it goes in a different direction and it’s rendered more beautiful because it surprises you. Life is absolutely like that!”

American soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen is known for her diverse repertoire ranging from Mozart to Wagner. A regular guest at the leading opera houses around the world, Le Monde enthused, “...the American soprano has without a doubt one of the most impressive voices in the opera world.”

Contents and tracklist

No. 1: Frühling
Track length3:27
No. 2: September
Track length4:58
No. 3: Beim Schlafengehen
Track length5:43
No. 4: Im Abendrot
Track length8:08
Mondscheinmusik
Track length3:36
Wo ist mein Bruder?
Track length2:51
Kein Andres, das mir so im Herzen loht
Track length4:36
Ihre Liebe schlägt mir entgegen
Track length4:52
Du Spiegelbild der verliebten Madeleine
Track length7:10

Spotlight on this release

Awards and reviews

May 2023

‘September’ and ‘Beim Schlafengehen’ are the two most successful interpretations of the four, where there’s a real engagement with the text and an authoritative way with phrasing from both Willis-Sørensen and her conductor – no less than Andris Nelsons at the helm of one of his two orchestras right now.

16th March 2023

the volume and dark tones of the American Rachel Willis-Sorensen’s soprano rather startle at first: we’re a long way from the silvery gleam that Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and others have projected in famous Four Last Songs of the past. Willis-Sorensen’s confidence as she manoeuvres her voice over this autumnal masterpiece’s singular leaps and high-flying glides often produces thrilling results…

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