The late Mariss Jansons would never live to see the release of this album from Diana Damrau, in which he leads his Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for a recital of Richard Strauss’ Vier letze Lieder. Recorded in the Herkulessaal (Hercules hall) of the Munich Residence and Hohenems in 2019, the album follows Damrau’s Lieder recital from 2011 which was also dedicated to the composer, under the direction of Christian Thielemann. Morgen was already re-recorded here, but the German soprano sang the Vier letzte Lieder once more under the direction of Mariss Jansons on November 8, 2019 during her very last concert on tour with the famous Bavarian ensemble at Carnegie Hall in New York, just twenty days before the composer passed away. Her gentle voice is much like that of her fellow performer Gundula Janowitz, bringing a radiant glow to this veritable farewell which was composed by an eighty-four-year-old Strauss as he contemplated life, gazing upon a Germany devastated by war. In addition to these orchestral pieces, the programme is devoted to a selection of some twenty Lieder from all eras, including Richard Strauss’ last composition, Malven (“Mauves”) which he composed in 1948 for singer Maria Jeritza, who jealously kept it to herself until it was finally released in 1985. Helmut Deutsch provides the ideal accompaniment on piano, listening, supporting and coordinating his playing with the German singer’s every word. © François Hudry/Qobuz