Jessye Norman - Richard Strauss - Four Last Songs; 6 Orchestral Songs (1983)

When she recorded this sublime farewell to life in 1983, Jessye Norman was 38 years old. She was at the height of her glory, and the summit of her vocal power and of her art. At the time, some wondered if there wasn't a contradiction between that voice, so bursting with life, and the crepuscular, delicious morbidity of the late Strauss. As time went by, this record became a confirmed classic.
The incandescence of this sumptuous voice is a perfect fit for the "red sky at night" of Im Abendrot that Eichendorff describes in the final poem of this cycle. With Jessye Norman's passing, this performance takes on an almost-metaphysical dimension. Her voice glides into a drawn-out breath in tormented melismas which sound almost like incantations. It speaks to us of life, of death, of the beauty of nature and the passage of time.
At her side, Kurt Masur accompanies her with infinite subtlety, following the slightest melodic twists of the score with the superb Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, which has a history of performing Strauss's work. The style, the perfect intonation, the colours from every stand all mix together with this voice of sunlight and honey. If you're bound for a proverbial desert island, be sure to pack this record in your luggage. © François Hudry/Qobuz