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The last Richard Strauss album – out of the many that were released this year, when 150 years from the birth of the great German composer were celebrated. A Strauss album which carries various celebrity-names: the soprano Anna Netrebko, the Berlin Chapel of Reconciliation and the conductor Daniel Barenboim.

This album is released  internationally on 24^th November, 2014 – and therefore it is a privilege that we can also listen to it on Radio Romania Music at the same time with its international release.

It is a privilege also beacause this is undoubtedly one of the best albums with Richard Strauss’ music, released this year. This is the reason why it has been included in the ‚Vote the Best Classsical Album of 2014’ Radio Romania Music campaign, where we are waiting for you to give marks to your favourite albums , because only your vote will designate the best classical album of 2014.

Anna Netrebko – Honest and Equal to Herself

Anna Netrebko stays faithful to her new interpretive orientation, because she has chosen, according to the natural tendencies of her voice and age, to approach roles and scores characteristic for a spinto-dramatic soprano, not for a lyric soprano, as she has done until this point. For that matter, her previous  experience with Verdi arias, which we have also listened to in this programme, comprised the Verdi areas for a spinto-dramatic soprano. In October 2014, Netrebko shone at the premiere of the Macbeth opera by Verdi in the role of Lady Macbeth on the stage of the New York Metropolitan Opera House.

At the age of forty-three, Anna Netrebko is one of the current lyric theatre super-stars – one of the most sought-after sopranos of our times, with her voice which is so special and versatile. Furthermore, she is a high calibre actress, with such admired physical features – despite the fact that the malicious voices note that she has recently gained weight in comparison with the sylph silhouette she once showed.

However, Anna Netrebko is a very sincere and direct artist, who feels comfortable in her own skin; her interpretation is the same as Anna Netrebko, the human being, - simple, yet rich and at the same time direct, yet full of inferences. This is indeed one of the most beautiful and appealing versions I have listened to of the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss– the testament of the great composer; and what made it more interesting was the fact that it was performed live, in August 2014, on the stage of the Berlin Philarmonic.                    

Daniel Barenboim – the Enchanter

Any album that is released and carries the name of Daniel Barenboim is a succes, because he has the astonishing capacity to make the orchestra sound as a unitary whole, with a rich, luxurious sound. He is the one who transformed the Chapel of Reconciliation in Berlin, the orchestra of the Unter den linden Berlin State Opera into one of the best European orchestras, although, at any rate, it had a history of hundreds of years of virtuousness. And we were also assured of this reality by listening to this orchestra at the “George Enescu” International Festival last year, right at the debut of the festival.

Therefore, indeed, Richard Strauss interpreted by a German orchestra with a long tradition is worthy to be taken as an example. And the same is the case with the interpretation of the symphonic poem A Hero’s Life Op.40 by Richard Strauss with Daniel Barenboim at the music rack of the Berlin Chapel of Reconciliation.

The album can be listened to on Radio Romania Music on Monday, 24^th November, starting at 19:00; the repeats are scheduled on Sunday, 30^th November, starting at 13:05.