Search - Richard [1] Strauss, Neeme Järvi, Scottish National Orchestra :: Richard Strauss: Orchestral Songs, Volume I

A gleaming voice used with nice artistry

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 01/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am too grateful for this hour of gorgeous Strauss orchestral songs to pick at Felicity Lott. She is ardent and gleaming of voice in 12 miscellaneous lieder and the Four Last Songs. Lott is an acclaimed singer in the U.K., and vocally one can hear why as she tirelessly spins one beautiful line after another. I've always found her to be sincere but fairly unimaginative as a stylist, however. She doesn't sing from inside the poems, but everything else is wonderful.



Jarvi conducts fairly briskly, at times roughly. The sonics are up to Chandos's high standards, and the engineers have been careful not to let Lott's lovely lyric soprano get swamped in the chocolate syrup of Strauss's lusciuos orchestrations. The Four Last Songs date from 1986, most of the rest from 1988.



Accounts of the Four Last Songs usualy begin with September, but Jarvi reverts to the order at the world premiere under Furtwangler and puts this song second. Unlike many divas who sail through on gorgeous tone, Lott tries to communicate what the text means, which is gratifying. Her only limitation is that she doesn't offer much dynamic range--everything here is basically mezzo forte, but a lovely mezzo forte. For once Jarvi doesn't rush, and the Scottish Naitonal Orch. sounds good, if not virtuosic. I would certainly call this performance very successful, though at the very end I wasn't really moved--ear candy was almost enough."