Strauss (R.): Orchestral Lieder / Metamorphosen

"Janowitz's voice is inherently light...her relatively uncomplicated, 'classical' approach, brings dividends of its own in terms of clarity of expression and phrasing. And then, there is the sheer elation of that extraordinary, golden high register - supreme! The final track is no mere 'filler', for it contains one of Strauss's late masterpieces. The Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings is his dirge for lost Germany, inspired, if that's the word, by walking among the post-war ruins of the Munich Opera House, one of Europe's most famously beautiful buildings, and a venue where his career had taken some of its first sensational steps. It is a savagely difficult work, a nearly half-hour Adagio of incredible intensity. A meticulously prepared performance, yet full of feeling, and achieving the essential sense of devastation in the coda, where Strauss dredges up, almost inaudibly, the funeral march theme from the Eroica Symphony. This is a wonderful disc." (MusicWeb)