About this Artist

• Biography

Editorial Reviews

Gundula Janowitz still had it in 1990, the year she retired from the stage and the year this Virgin compact disc of Strauss orchestral songs was first issued. Reissued here in 2008, Janowitz still has it: a honeyed tone, a rich but controlled vibrato, an operatic intensity, and a palpable sense of presence. Try her rapturous "Morgen," with its restrained sensuality, or her intimate "Wiegenlied," with its maternal warmth, or her luminous "Ruhe, meine Seele," with its sculpted beauty. Though Virgin's engineers have unaccountably buried her voice in the balance and wrapped a slight glaze around her upper register, Janowitz's consummate artistry shines through. The accompaniment by the Lodnon Academy under Richard Stamp is not much more than serviceable, this does not detract from Janowitz's voice. Unfortunately alone in the magisterial mastery of "Metamorphosen," Stamp and the Academy cannot penetrate the work's melancholy soul, and their performances remains merely proficient. Still, for Janowitz fans, this disc will be mandatory. James Leonard, All Music Guide

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