“Zueignung”

Music: Richard Strauss
Text: Hermann von Gilm
Closed caption translation by Richard Stokes, The Book of Lieder (Faber), provided courtesy of Oxford Lieder

Renée Fleming, soprano
Robert Ainsley, pianist

The songs of Richard Strauss (1864-1949) are among the most memorable works of a composer who found a profound satisfaction in writing for singers. His wife of 55 years, Pauline de Ahna, had an important career as an operatic soprano, and their relationship certainly accounted, to some extent, for Strauss’s devotion to vocal writing. Beyond that, however, was a seemingly innate, profoundly sensitive appreciation of beautiful voices and a thorough understanding of how to present them to best advantage.

In contrast to his most dramatic operas (Elektra, Salome, Die Frau ohne Schatten), Strauss’s songs are often exquisitely intimate. An exception to that is “Zueignung” (“Dedication”), a sweeping outpouring of emotion, building in the three verses to a magnificently stirring climax. The text by Austrian poet Hermann von Gilm (1812-1864) finds the singer expressing how sorrowful she is when her love isn’t with her, and then offering gratitude for that love which gives her such joy.

Soprano

Renée Fleming

Previously at Lyric: Ten roles since1993|94, most recently Hanna Glawari|The Merry Widow(2015|16); CountessMadeleine/Capriccio(2014|15); eight gala concerts;duo recital with Susan Graham.

Renée Fleming, Lyric’s special projects advisor and formerly its first creative consultant, is one of the most beloved and celebrated singers of our time. Winner of the National Medal of Arts (awarded by President Obama at the White House in 2013) and a four-time Grammy® Award winner, Fleming brought her voice to a vast new audience in 2014 as the first classical artist to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl. She has performed at distinguished occasions worldwide, from Oslo’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Diamond Jubilee Concert for HM Queen Elizabeth II. A groundbreaking distinction came in 2008 when Fleming became the first woman to solo-headline a Metropolitan Opera opening-night gala. Recent achievements include Nettie Fowler/Carousel (Broadway musical debut, Tony Award® nomination); Margaret Johnson/The Light in the Piazza (London, Los Angeles, Chicago); title role/Norma Jeane Baker of Troy (opening of New York City’s newest arts space, The Shed); a virtual solo recital for the Met at Washington’s Dumbarton Oaks; and the latest addition to her extensive discography, a program of songs by Schumann, Brahms, and Mahler.

Photo: Scott Suchman