This may be called a special production: the orchestral version and the piano arrangement of Richard Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder, brought together on this cd, with in the lead role the Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian (Vilnius, 1981), the celebrated opera star who knows how to explore her impressive vocal art excellently in the Lied repertoire as well. She brings her opera experience with her, also as confirmation that the great opera singers are best positioned in this work. Her text interpretation is as exemplary as the natural expression and the smooth-flowing character of her phrasing. A pity is that her moderate diction comes at the expense of intelligibility. With the piano version by Max Wolff (first three songs) and John Gibson (final song) I don't think much, although a comparison with the orchestral version is flawed in any case. Grigorian's brilliant voice and her sublime legato make up for a lot, however. It's not Harthäuser's fault: the piano arrangement simply can't compete with just the colorful refinement of the ravishing orchestral score. The French broadcasting orchestra under Mikko Franck provided a sumptuous and detailed sound image as a fine reflection of the orchestral wealth that Strauss must have had in mind. The playing time of 44 minutes is rather meager.
In the cd booklet the catalog number Alpha 1042 is listed, but this should be Alpha 1046. A small detail, but still.