Richard Strauss saved my Grandfather's life !! My Grandfather - Jascha Spivakovsky - was a prominent Jewish concert pianist in Germany in the year before Hitler came to power and friends with Strauss. Strauss found out my Grandfather was on a Nazi hit-list and warned him using a musically-coded note. Were it not for that, my Grandfather would have been assassinated, but instead he left Germany just in time and went to Australia where I was eventually born. Thank you Mr.Strauss for saving my Grandfather's life !! Strauss wasn't just a great composer, he was also a good man !!

One of the greatest challenges to subtel listeners of Richard Strauss´s Lieder is: It is a Master Piece of Music with overwhelming orchestration, which, incidentally, there appears a solo voice, acting as an INSTRUMENT among a compiled melodic intersections with a sudden SOLO POSITION WITH POETIC WORDS, flamboyant company of instruments and enormous efforts of expression necessary for conductors to achieve an end with little fermata situations . . . A piece of work for superb listeners !

12:25 - One of the most beautiful melodies and solos in any orchestral work. You can truly feel the emotion Strauss has composed, transcending generations of music.

Magic from beginning to end, thank you :)

Strauss's songs demand a singer of Ms Fleming's ability to pull out all the nuances and emotions in the melodies. The purity and consistence of her voice is spellbinding for me. In two words, superbly beautiful. Abbado and the orchestra made this even more so!

Whenever I’m asked about my favourite composers I seem strangely to omit Richard Strauss. Listening again to this masterpiece and recalling Tod und Verklarung , Alpine Symphony, Ein Heldenleben etc I’m reminded that of course he is up there among my top favourites.

Dieser Sahne-Sopran veredelt den Strauss auf das Vorzüglichste. Der Charme dieser Stimme lugt und glitzert aus jeder Tonfolge. Eine der schönsten Stimme, die es je gab und noch gibt.....!!!!!

An achingly beautiful performance in every respect, which has just made a grown man weep.

We played Beim Schlafengehen at tje end of Mum's funeral service and those who came to pay their last respects were transfixed. A beautiful end to a wonderful life.

I must have watched this video a hundred times already and I have never been able to fight back my tears... A thousand times bravo to Renée Fleming, Claudio Abbado, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and to Richard Strauss !!! A thousand times thank you, @EuroArtsChannel !!!

This truly is an event of great gift for us, Ms Fleming and Claudio Abado made it unforgettable. The most intimate and beautiful composition of Strauss I ever heard.

Richard Strauss its a very fine compositor. His music is exquisite and it makes my heart vibrate and my eyes shine.

There is nobody better than Renee Fleming. On top of her unique talent, she is known as a lovely, nice, warm human being.

The first time I heard Renée, I fell in love with her. Without knowing the women I feel so deeply for her, just because she is capable of singing the way she does. Truly beautiful and just ... divine.

Beautiful music to have grown up with x thank you Richard Strauss, thank you God in heaven xxxoooo

Ms Fleming is the greatest interpreter of this work. there are many wonderful singers who have sung this, but Fleming is the pinnacle of what Strauss' intention was . thank you Renee Fleming!

Richard Strauss died before he could hear these beautiful songs in concert.

The ending - how the winds can get to such a pppp. And the horn so sensitively played and melding with Fleming''s voice. WOW!

"Im Abendrot" is my favorite. It's deep Strauss. It' all Strauss. Great !

Watch and weep World...it don't get any better than this !

Sie ist so wunderbar! ☺️

Human nature seems to include a need to rank one artist among others...to say this performance, artist, composer, book, painting...etc...is better than this one or that one. I read the comments here and wonder how anyone could have ANY negative feelings about this. Is it the best performance ever? Is Rene the greatest singer? Is Strauss better than so and so? Pointless. LISTEN and be grateful you got to hear this performance and that is available via modern technology whenever you want to experience it. Profoundly beautiful music sung/played/conducted by great artists. Period.

Wonderful performance. The silence - the audience transported beyond the concert hall at the very end was literally breathtaking.

I've dried again, stunningly beuatiful music near the end of a celebrated life - well deserved Richard!

An absolutely stunning performance. Captivating in every way and thank God for an audience that doesn't jump in at the end!

The greatest music ever written for the human voice.

Pffft....... incredible... Claudio is conducting this with a lot of emotions. He brings it over to his orchestra and Rene Fleming. Tears are coming. Please stop with comparing: it is not a contest. Enjoy this lovely music and this wonderful performance!!!!!

Composizione meravigliosa, straordinaria conduzione di Claudio Abbado. Grande emozione.

Une merveilleuse interprétation de ce chef d'œuvre, toute en nuances et sensibilité artistique. Tant la soliste que le Chef et l'orchestre se surpassent... *Merveilleux !*

I dont think I have ever felt such emotion for any performance such as this one. Ravishing and transporting.

Elegant, in every way possible. Effortless singing.

I listen to this performance a lot. I love Richard Strauss. The 4 last songs are beautiful and profound... Alway brings me close to tears. Renee Fleming is a sublime artist.. Breathtaking performance...

Perfect... Thank you Miss Fleming.

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?

Renee Fleming possess that rare nowadays soprano quality (could be recalled from XX c.) voice and cute artistic individuality not to lose time to admire.

Великолепное сопрано! Умопомрачительный вокал и красивый тембр голоса единственный в своем роде. Я в восторге!!!

Lovely - truly wonderful singing and Mr Abbado is fantastic!!

This is absolute music from the source of all! Claudio Abado is a great inspiration and a perfect transformer of these genuine ideas of these universal valid compositions! Thank you for the upload!

Four Last Songs is the much-loved piece of music by Richard Strauss . He wrote "Four Last Songs" delicate to his wife Pauline . When Renée Fleming was singing the last bars of the songs, her breath was slowing down and she did not feel sad but her heart was at peace . Renee Fleming is great the American soprano and I love her voice very much

Beautiful! Praise God!

Beutyfull music.Beutyfully sung by a beautiful woman,beautifully filmed.

what wonderful singing, absolutely perfect ❤❤❤

*I • **01:59** - "Frühling" (Spring)* *ll • **05:42** - "September"* *III • **10:39** - "Beim Schlafengehen" (When Falling Asleep)* *IV • **15:59** - "Im Abendrot" (At Sunset)*

Wonderful, thank you Rene!

che bella musica e che testi sublimi.... Claudio Abbado è un Direttore magnifico... Im Abendrot è una meraviglia....Bravissima Fleming

After Jessye Norman, only Fleming for this sort of thing, an amazing end to a musical era in every respect

Just spotted Bernard Haitink in the audience! He knows a great singer when he hears one. Just stunning. I must have heard this performance a hundred times and it never fails to move me.

wonderful

It's like being here...the most beautiful place I've ever been...heaven...in the country side of Bulgaria!!!

schitterend... the most beautiful songs there are

it makes me greet

....que maravillosa inspiración del maestro R.Strauss

Grazie Signor Abbado

Fabulous, Renée!!!!

My grandfather knew Strauss very well and was indebted to him for this piece of sound advice - try, wherever possible, to wear moleskin trousers. I too have taken that advice and the wearing of them has greatly enriched my life. I also believe that they may have protected me from Covid 19.

Wow, it's even more touching when you know that Strauss composed this one year before his death. Moreover thinking that the work ends with the lines: “Wie sind wir wandermüde- / Ist dies etwa der Tod?” (“How weary we are of wandering / Is this perhaps death?”)

Grazie Maestro.

If this work isn't the most perfect way to end a life of a truly remarkable composer then I don't know what is. I won't get into the usual "this singer is better than that singer" routine, no performance I've ever heard could be described as poor and in the end it's the music that says it all.

THANK YOU SO MUCH graham new zealand

Божественная Рене!!!

Beautiful ❤️ 😊

So beautiful! so touched.

A voice like Manuka honey (not just any old honey!). I melt when I hear Renee Flemming sing - an ideal song cycle for her voice too. Simply gorgeous.

Wow, she makes this look so easy . . .

so beautiful ♥

What can I say???if perfection existes,this is it!!!

Simplesmente um bálsamo para a nossa alma! Que maravilha!!! ❤❤❤

Super Abbado! Unfortunately, I can't say the same about Fleming

Maravillosa interpretación de Renée Fleming..¡¡¡

TIME reported the same as follows: Richard Strauss's Epitaph Monday, Jun. 05, 1950 One of the last wishes of the late Richard Strauss was that Kirsten Flagstad should be the soprano to introduce the four songs which he finished in 1948, the year before his death at 85 (TIME, Sept. 19). "I would like to make it possible," he wrote to her, "that [the songs] should be at your disposal for a world premiere in the course of a concert with a first-class conductor and orchestra." In London last week Composer Strauss's wish was fulfilled to the letter. With Albert Hall packed for the occasion, great-domed German Conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler stepped to the podium to lead London's Philharmonia Orchestra. Plump and majestic, Soprano Flagstad took her place near his side, solemnly donned spectacles to read the music. What followed was a moving and deliberate farewell from a composer who, in his earlier years, had turned out the rich and masterful scores of Der Rosenkavalier, Death and Transfiguration, Don Quixote. Sung as only Flagstad can sing, with her gorgeous, earth-mother quality of sound, The Four Last Songs (Going to Sleep, September, Spring, At Sunset), were echoes of the old composer's most mellow and memorable days. They spoke of a calm tiredness, deep autumnal peace, affection for his wife. At Sunset ended with a quiet and resigned interrogation: "Is this perhaps death?" As the last soft sounds died in the orchestra, one listening musician said, "What an epitaph to write for oneself!" For the unveiling of the epitaph, Londoners could thank Sir Sri Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar Bahudar, the wealthy, 30-year-old Maharaja of Mysore. Though he could not be present, the music-loving maharaja had put up a $4,800 guarantee for the performance, so that The Four Last Songs could be recorded for his fabulous (now 20,000 records) personal collection and shipped off to him in Mysore.

fabulous!!!

essa plateia deveria estar aplaudindo até hoje

Wundervoll, great, fantastic.

Perfect!Who asks for more???

Espetacular!❤

Thanks

Miracle

Es war Marilyn Horne, die großartige US-Liedsängerin, die Renée Fleming den Rat gab unbedingt Deutsch zu lernen, nicht nur um zu verstehen was sie singe sondern auch damit in ihrem Gesang "Ausdruck" entstünde. Wie man sieht und vor allem hört folgte Fleming diesem Rat (eigenen Worten zufolge ist ihr Fleming noch heute für diesen Rat dankbar). - Heinz

splendid

Perfect

fantastic video quality. great performance.

Magnificent

These disturbing and moving songs... I keep coming back to them... why..?

«Четыре последние песни» на стихи Германа Гессе и Йозефа Эйхендорфа: 1. Весна('Frühling') - Герман Гессе Мне долго снились в мглистом заточеньи - Твоих деревьев шум, и птичье пенье, И свежий ветр в бескрайнем свете дня; Миг волшебства настал, и - прочь сомненья! - Всей лучезарной нежностью влеченья Ты вновь со мной, во мне, вокруг меня!.. 2. Сентябрь('September') - Герман Гессе Поздних роз горделивый венец - Знак прощания или ошибка? Лето свой привечает конец Тихой, кроткой, чуть странной улыбкой: Не жалеет поникшей травы Стылый дождь, скорбных мыслей отрада, - И сочится с ним злато листвы В увядающей роскоши сада... 3. Отход ко сну( 'Beim Schlafengehen') - Герман Гессе День утомил, и работать нет мочи. Чаще и крепче слипаются очи. Скоро уж сон, вняв желаниям страстным, Скроет меня звёздным пологом ясным. Руки, застыньте, и мысли, замрите, Разум в дремоту скорей окуните, Чтобы душа в чуде ночи парила, Тысячекратно цвела и любила! 4. На закате( 'Im Abendrot' ) - Йозеф фон Эйхендорф По жизни пройдя сквозь все беды и радости, Дошли мы с тобой до последней земли. Горят небеса предзакатною сладостью - В них только два лебедя тают вдали. Вокруг - ни души, ни тревог, ни смятения; Лишь не заплутать бы в сём мире вдвоём - И, может быть, скоро в пучине забвения Мы вечную память свою обретём...

sublime !!!!!

Beautiful. Kiri Te Kanawa is my favourite then Renée Fleming then Jessye Norman and Lucia Popp. All special in their own way. Oh also Cheryl Studer.

Superb.

Sublime...

Exquisita voz y canciones de Strauss

simplemente, magistral

Bellísimo

Overwhelming!

beautifully recorded the voice floats over the orchestra as it shoud and the orchestra is sublime iv'e missed out on this recording and the prime of fleming there is nothing mannered about this it's wonderful.

Very nice performance.

Gracias,por este video.EuroArtsChannel.,

FANTASTICO ABBADO!!! FANTASTICA ORCHESTRA !!!

Una cosa meravigliosa 🌹!

RIP beautiful lady.

I like the Strauss songs!! I just think it's a shame that he often covers his voice with his orchestra. But it's still a wonderful composition! Aeon- very sad and good story at the same time! Greetings from Germany!

Love Fleming, but still Schwarzkopf/Szell for me. Truly sublime recording