BWW Reviews: Soprano Karita Mattila Shimmers in Strauss's FOUR LAST SONGS at Carnegie Hall

Of all the music that Richard Strauss wrote during his long career--and he'd composed almost 60 songs and more than 40 piano works by the time he was 18--perhaps none are more gorgeous and moving than his FOUR LAST SONGS (VIER LETZTE LIEDER). Finnish soprano Karita Mattila's performance on Saturday night at Carnegie Hall with the Munich Philharmonic under Fabio Luisi was gleaming and full bodied, and she held the audience in her thrall.

It was odd, then, that she seemed a bit taken aback by the justifiable ovation she received at the end of the fourth song, "Im Abendrot" ("At Twilight"). Maybe she has been feeling a little unloved in New York--but her performance proved how much she has been missed on our local opera scene. She hasn't been in here much, since Janacek's opera have been off the menu at the Met and her outing in the Met's poorly received premiere of Luc Bondy's TOSCA production. That--along with a canceled appearance in the Met's recent BALLO IN MASCHERA (did she fall or was she pushed?)--may have limited her repertoire opportunities at the house.

Yet, here, she was clearly in her element, bringing out the emotional truth and power that makes for a successful performance of these pieces. Strauss wrote them with a specific voice in mind--and chose another Scandinavian, the Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad (a famous Brunnhilde), to sing the premiere, which took place a few months after the composer's death at 85.

While Mattila's voice is not quite that size--and, frankly, doesn't sound quite as lustrous as when she sensationally premiered the Met's SALOME in 2004--her intelligence and commitment, and impeccable phrasing, overrode any shortcomings.

I wish I could have been as enthusiastic about the rest of the program. The orchestra seemed to think that "the louder the better," judging from its performances of the Rosenkavalier Suite and Ein Heldenleben. I say the orchestra rather than the conductor, because Luisi was a late addition to the podium, after Lorin Maazel pulled out due to illness, and he didn't seem exactly at home with the program.

I would have thought the Rosenkavalier was idiot-proof, but that turned out to be wrong. There was no "oomph" in the performance, only a surfeit of noise and little impact. The only one to come out unscathed was violin concertmaster Sreten Krstic, who played a breathtakingly beautiful solo in "Beim Schlafengehen" ("Going to Sleep"), the third of the songs and stood out in Heldenleben as well.

Still, the audience came for the VIER LETZTE LIEDER--and in the hands of Mattila, they made a lasting impression.

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Photo: Soprano Karita Mattila, conductor Fabio Luisi and the Munich Philharmonic

Photo by Pete Checchia