Lucia Popp - Strauss Vier Letzte Lieder - Beim Schlafengehen

[DoverGwynedd]

How I miss her. Her version of Mahler's 4th with Paul Kletzki/Pittsburgh Symphony is still unparalleled for me.

[TheVaughan5]

From the real "golden age" of singing, the post-war generation produced an incredible number of outstanding singers compared to today's meagre few. Fabulous!!

[spn1007]

I have 19 recordings of the songs (and counting). Though each has its highlights, I believe the late, wonderful, beautiful Lucia and the amazing Jessye Norman are probably my two favorites! Exquisite. Wonderful to see her performing live. Wat a loss. But thank God we were blessed with her for as long as we were.

[sandro4646]

8 people are deaf

[paulostroff99]

Awesome!  TY Gabba02 for posting this gem.

[PTCello]

Within 30 seconds I was crying...beautiful. beautiful..

still crying.... beautiful

[mixolidius]

Qué voz más bella...

[bobareebop]

That violin solo with the orchestra is ravishing.

[DeLonAlma]

miss her......

[MrAndredekock]

Absolutely sublime! Eat your heart Renee Fleming! Ms Popp is one of the finest Vier Letzte Lieder exponents I have heard and WHAT a pleasure it is to hear Strauss as he expected his music to be sung and to sound. Bravissima!

[paulostroff99]

@MrAndredekock -Very well said.There really is no comparison.

[algernon4444]

By God, she's brilliant, isn't she!

[Greatfan2011]

What strikes me more about this superb rendition of the Four Last Songs is her INCREDIBLE MUSICALITY. Other great artists are waiting for a cue, a beat and stare at the conductor. Not Miss Popp, she seems an accurate instrument, one more in the orchestra. Never a single doubt. The voice is that of a coloratura and has thinner grain than a Fleming or Price, but she compensates with her impressive fiato and her impressive security. Brava Popp up in Heaven !

[DivaKazza]

What a wonderful, wonderful version. She makes the long phrases seem so effortless.

[tomazvital1986]

NO WORDS FOR THAT...

[nwest127]

Thank you seattle8131. That also caught my attention!

[seattle813]

Sam Magad, solo violin -- very tense vibrato.

[chopinlover49]

She was a wonderful singer and it is a great loss that she is gone!

[cansert41]

i hate this supid sucking song!!!

[damianjb1]

Thank you so much to the person who posted these videos. They are absolute magic. The way she just sings them. No drama or arm flapping - just stands and sings. And it's perfect!!!

[chubfuddler]

Always a question to ponder -- who the bloody hell are the six tin-eared maroons who don't love it, but actually and actively don't like it?

[shrekinasuit]

@chubfuddler absolutely agree and sympathise with your anger! Anybody who knows the least bit about music understands the quality of this performance. These are the same sort of people who would be expected to cough during the quietest moments of the most beautiful performances. However, best to ignore these poor souls...

[chubfuddler]

Always a question to ponder -- who the bloody hell are the six tin-eared maroons who don't love it, but actually and actively don't like it?

[muatlas]

Beautiful song. Beautifully sung. Beautifully performed.

[robertocozzarin]

da piangere, perfetta e splendida come una icona

[gr333nyboy]

BEAUTIFUL.

thank you, i enjoyed that SO much.

[dorjenne]

I love this music so much. I can't be bothered by comparisons. I enjoy Popp. Flagsdad, Fleming, and all of them. Each singer brings something special to her performance.

[mauricedelacroix]

EXPLENDID! NEC PLUS ULTRA!

[lhspaiser]

This performance is so beautiful it is exhausting - compares very well with Schwartzkopf.

[Tommyfazz]

yeh Popp is the biz . Solti still waves around like he want to be a monkey with a bag of frogs in his kecks.

[Rephrat]

violin solo Samuel Magad !!!!!!

[guarnerius69]

@Rephrat unhappy intonation and worse sheep vibrato......

[antoniosergiocunha]

Though here, Solti controls his enthusiasm and uses a slower tempo than the one used in Im Abendrot, it is still faster than Tennstedt's, which suits this song better. Popp, as always, is wonderful. What a wonderful violin solo from the firt violin of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra!

[Zyghnwyr]

I remember this performance. It was the first time I'd heard both Popp and this music. Time hasn't altered my opinion one bit; it's great music performed by a great artist. Wonderful to see and hear it again. Thanks.

[metacarple]

As near to perfection as is possible in this beautiful music - music in heaven must be exquisite with Lucia Popp and Georg Solti to perform it.

[lindyms]

This is just exquisite. For me the most beautiful of all. What a lovely artist she was. RIP, Lucia.

[acatalano2641]

Perfection all the way around :)

Thank you.

[Enzocolor]

Emozionante! Lucia Popp è un angelo che canta! Grazie, Lucia!

[ochnajanu]

Diese Stimme fehlt noch immer in der Welt des Gesangs!

[rutyfromtheblock]

Simplemente, no se puede cantar mejor.

Gracias Lucia

[11777766]

Popp's angelic voice must now brighten the heavens.

[nihilistopher]

This is amazing. BTW, why haven't more people set music to Hesse? He is one of the greatest writers of all time.

[Fiumita]

Maravillosa Lucia Popp!!!

[ealing40]

And complimments to Sam Magad on fiddle!

[Oaktownrob]

So beautifully sung. I completely missed the fact that La Popp died way back in '93

until today. She was amazing. I once saw

her in a master class at Northwestern University. She entered the Lupton Hall

stage dragging a beautiful white fur behind her. It was a site to see! God rest her soul

[chucknyc123]

I saw her once too, but to me she was an even better interpreter of Mozart. When I was a teenager I went to Mozart's house in Salzburg and they were playing 'Die Zauberflote' with Lucia as the Queen of the Night. Fantastic!

[masettoallegro]

S-U-B-L-I-M-E !!!!!!!!!!

[BillSalem]

The placement of the microphones and subsequent balance of sound is not great. The concertmaster plays divinely. He gives her a lot to live up to when she comes in again. But she does sing gorgeously.

And this is a song that, if you can actually get through it, you are probably a great singer.  In the same way that just getting through a Bach Cello Sonata is proof of competence. Or writing a sonnet. But actually, I think it is harder and more rare to sing this piece.

[FlyingElephant20]

An angel!

[bergmannsglueck]

Wunderbar ! Ergreifend !

Für mich singt niemand, Strauss "Vier letzte Lieder " besser, als Lucia Popp. Diese Stimme erreicht mein Innerstes, dies ist Gesang in Vollendung.

Posthum, DANKE! THANK YOU !

[Uruguruh]

Beautifully sung. Pity the quality of the recording is that bad.

[Rephrat]

The violin solo is played by samuel Magad.

She is with the angels.

[cluckatura3]

she is looks so effortless. It's amazing!

[wally5353]

What a discovery! I own the recording with Tennstedt but had never seen this video. I think it made me even sadder than the day Schwartzkopf died and I listened to her recording (w/Szell). Popp was taken from us much too early. What a magnificent singer.

[sfkcbf]

The violin solo, when played well as it is here, always moves me greatly. This sounds to me to be one of the better performances, although my favorite remains Gundula Janowitz.

[Operanut9]

Although a long admirer of Schwarzkopf in this music,I was never so moved by it as I was by Nilsson's one recording of it in her late career. It was a truly transcendent experience, and one I revisit as often as possible.

[astartelucifer]

I can´t find words

so perfect!

[LJBSasha]

Having written about the violin-solo (so absolutely CRITICAL to this piece, no less than the soprano soloist in fact!!!), let me now say that I can truly ADORE Mme. Popp's beautiful singing and absolute maturity of understanding of this piece and its words - one that rivals Elisabeth Schwarzkopf quite handily. She conveys such nobility & profundity! Much to learn from and enjoy here! Bravi to all involved except the recording engineers (I hate that hiss and quasi-B-natural sibilance...).

[medmai]

no comparison! one of the best sopranos of all times

[g420730a]

Very beautifully sung!

[Jokanaan]

She just oozes class. I especially love how she slowly turns to the concertmaster, at the beginning of his solo. It's such a graceful way to handle that moment, gently shifting the focus to him during that section of the piece.

[LJBSasha]

Excellently said - that IS classy and even noble on her part, and he responds with a lovely solo indeed!! Yes, I could criticise having a bit less portamento in one place than I'd like - and then a bit more than would have been desired a few bars later; however, that's individual taste!!! If "Im Abendrot" feels controversial on account of Solti's speed, there's no such trouble here!!! This performance is GOLD and does what Masur's concertmaster misses in this piece for Norman (sadly)...

[23474971]

Captivating.

[mpratt02]

Absolutely!!

[Moegiust]

What a treasure she was and remains. Sophisticated and yet sincere. Thank you for posting this wonderful document of her art.

[Hemanthemannequin]

I love her. :]

[novisibersk]

Exquisite......breathtaking...­...

[Archsorceror]

Effortless! Wonderful.

[cantanteporsiempre]

that¨s right, what i love more in this amazing woman, is that she is so natural!!, but I must say that i would like a little more intensity for this songs!!

[Nachtgarten]

Phantastisch!

Die "Vier letzte Lieder" sind so wundervoll.

[filiodecallas]

De todas las voces quien más refresca la esencia de estas canciones dándole vida es Lucia Popp. Un sonido humano y flotante en su voz. IMpecable su instrumento.

[PieterdeRooijHolland]

what a great singer she is! her '4 letzte Lieder' with Tennstedt and the London Philh., recorded five years later in 1982, is imho the best of all '4 letzte Lieder'-recordings

[Glenmed]

Bewitching music ... the very loveliest lady and artiste. Hard to think this was 30 years ago and 14 years since Lucia's passing. Thank you.

[bachboy111]

i like how ms.popp is part of the orchestra and not just the soloist. very well matched.

[chubblove]

I agree with you, most singers forget that their voice is an instrument and do their own stylisation during a concert or performance. Lucia is perfect in every way, very much missed and quite lovely

[BravaBerganza]

THANK YOU for this piece! *Wonderful* I love Lucia Popp, I miss her so much... This song always brings the tears to my eyes. Lucia will be forever one of the best opera singers!

[Azzenstudent]

Thank you for posting this! Popp's warmth and knowingness in these songs is unsurpassed. Not the ideal voice given its weight, but certainly the ideal intepreter.

[LJBSasha]

Exactly!! Sometimes one can't have completely everything (this music is extremely demanding - and not just technically!). One needs spiritual, mental and emotional maturity to really bring out the profundity and full content of these pieces, and both Popp and Solti prove things here. Even if Popp may not have been vocally as big as Norman or Nilsson, she truly had everything else (and Solti was a very sympathetic accompanist - he knew how to work well with what he had!)! Utterly splendid!!!

[boipussi]

How beautiful. I always love Popp and Solti is very nice.

[johnshade]

Yes. The late, great Lucia Popp. Music does not get better than the Four Last Songs.

[cyfieithydd]

Fabulous voice. Sad that she is no longer with us. I have some wonderful memories of her as Pamina and as Queen of the Night before that!!

[johnshade]

Yes, the late, great Lucia Popp. Music doesn't get better than the Four Last Songs.