In Powerful Voice

The music of Richard Strauss features on this BBC Music mag cover disk, Songs and Arias. The soprano soloist is Christine Brewer with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Weller. The two arias are taken from the operas Die Agyptische Helena ( Zweite Brautnacht ) and Ariadne Auf Naxos ( Es Gibt Ein Reich ) Instead of the Four Last Songs, those included here are Befreit, Zueignung, Morgen and the cradle song Wiegenlied. Brewer is in fine powerful voice and the BBCSO obviously enjoy the typically Straussian orchestral colours. Strauss had his wife as muse when writing for the soprano voice and it is one of the strengths of his music. The disk also includes the strings of the BBCSO playing Metamorphosen. They can't match those of the Berliner Philharmoniker on the commercial recording of that work I have already posted about and Weller gives a more low key interpretation than the highly wrought one by Karajan. It is still a well played and moving version however.