This boxed set brings together two releases featuring Finnish soprano Soile Isokoski. In the collection of orchestral songs by Richard Strauss, Isokoski demonstrates that this is obviously repertoire in which she is fully at ease, and which is ideally suited to her voice. Strauss demands a nuanced command of a broad range of vocal colors and weights, and the singer shows an idiomatic mastery of his style. She has the suppleness and lightness to make "Säusle, liebe Myrte" really sparkle, and she brings a rich warmth to ...
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This boxed set brings together two releases featuring Finnish soprano Soile Isokoski. In the collection of orchestral songs by Richard Strauss, Isokoski demonstrates that this is obviously repertoire in which she is fully at ease, and which is ideally suited to her voice. Strauss demands a nuanced command of a broad range of vocal colors and weights, and the singer shows an idiomatic mastery of his style. She has the suppleness and lightness to make "Säusle, liebe Myrte" really sparkle, and she brings a rich warmth to "September" and "Im Abendrot." And she can soar radiantly in "Befreit," and in all the Four Last Songs. Isokoski's voice doesn't have the natural luminosity or openness to put this in the very top ranks of recordings of these songs, but hers is a very fine performance; it should delight her fans and also be of interest to listeners who love the songs and who savor hearing a variety of interpretations. Marek Janowski leads Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin in a rhythmically supple...
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