Laws of Solitude. Strauss: Four Last Songs Asmik Grigorian

• Richard Strauss (1864 - 1945): Four Last Songs, TrV 296:
• 1 Strauss: Four Last Songs, TrV 296: I. Frühling 03:18
• 2 Strauss: Four Last Songs, TrV 296: II. September 04:04
• 3 Strauss: Four Last Songs, TrV 296: III. Beim Schlafengehen 05:29
• 4 Strauss: Four Last Songs, TrV 296: IV. Im Abendrot 07:16
• Four Last Songs, TrV 296 (Arr. for Piano and Soprano by Max Wolff):
• 5 Strauss: Four Last Songs, TrV 296 (Arr. for Piano and Soprano by Max Wolff): I. Frühling 03:35
• 6 Strauss: Four Last Songs, TrV 296 (Arr. for Piano and Soprano by Max Wolff): II. September 05:59
• 7 Strauss: Four Last Songs, TrV 296 (Arr. for Piano and Soprano by Max Wolff): III. Beim Schlafengehen 05:43
• 8 Strauss: Four Last Songs, TrV 296 (Arr. for Piano and Soprano by Max Wolff): IV. Im Abendrot 08:44
• Total Runtime 44:08

Info for Laws of Solitude. Strauss: Four Last Songs

Singer Asmik Grigorian has chosen to record both versions of Richard Strauss's ultimate masterpiece, composed in 1948: the version with orchestra and the much rarer version with piano. For her, this work is associated with the idea of solitude, but not an unhappy solitude, rather a journey towards infinity: " Now all my senses long to sink into slumber. And the soul, unguarded, longs to soar up in freedom, so that, in night’s magic circle, it may live deeply and a thousandfold. " writes Hermann Hesse in Beim Schlafengehen ( Going to Sleep ), the third song in the cycle. For this unique coupling, Asmik is joined by two long-time accomplices: conductor Mikko Franck, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and pianist Markus Hinterhauser, artistic director of the Salzburg Festival. The combination of the two versions opens up new sensations: after the well-known abundance of Strauss's orchestration an incredible sensitivity is revealed by the piano version.

Asmik Grigorian, soprano
Markus Hinterhäuser, piano
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Mikko Franck, conductor

Asmik Grigorian
“One of the fiercest dramatic talents in the field” (The New York Times), Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian’s “versatility is astounding” (The Times) with a “wild voice [that is] rich and dark” (Le Monde). Regularly engaged at the world’s leading opera houses, she has recently performed at the Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Real Madrid, the Salzburger Festspiele, and Teatro alla Scala. She was a founding member of Vilnius City Opera, has twice been awarded the Golden Stage Cross (the highest award for singers in Lithuania), was named Best Female Lead in 2019 at the Austrian Music Theater Awards, Female Opera Singer of the Year in 2022 by the Ópera XXI Association, and Female Singer of the Year at the Opus Klassik Awards in 2023.

Her 2023/24 season begins with Madama Butterfly in which she makes her house debut at Arena di Verona. She reprises the role three more times throughout the season; at the Royal Opera House in March/April, the Metropolitan Opera in April/May, marking her house debut, and the Deutsche Oper Berlin in June. Asmik also returns to three other signature title roles this season: a new production of Salome at the Staatsoper Hamburg, which marks her house debut, Jenufa in concert with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Pique Dame at the Bayerische Staatsoper. Her season also includes her debut as the title role in Turandot at the Wiener Staatsoper in December. Concert performances include recitals with Lukas Geniušas at Wigmore Hall in London, the Berliner Philharmonie, and the Bayerische Staatsoper. She performs in concert at the Maison de la Musique et de la Radio under the direction of Mikko Franck at the beginning of the season, as well as Verdi’s Requiem both at the Cēsis Vidzeme Concert Hall in Latvia and with the Gewandhausorchester in Leipzig. Asmik returns to Japan to perform a concert with the NBS in May, as well as a solo recital at the Wiener Staatsoper, and she makes her debut with the Bruckner Orchester Linz in June. She ends her season at the Salzburger Festspiele in August, performing the role of Polina in Prokofiev’s The Gambler, and R.Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Maestro Gustavo Dudamel.

Asmik’s debut recording, in collaboration with the pianist Lukas Geniušas, Dissonance, was released in 2022 on Alpha. An “exceptional recital of melodies” (Opéra Magazine), the album was lauded by the press. This season, Asmik releases a recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14, recorded with the l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Mikko Franck in October 2023, and a recording of Strauss’s Four Last Songs in February 2024, both on Alpha.

Asmik has made a name for herself on both the concert and operatic platforms since her international career began with a triumphant performance in Madama Butterfly at the Royal Swedish Opera. She then went on to perform to conquer role after role including: Salome at the Salzburg Festival (described as “a Salome to end all Salomes” (Financial Times), now available on DVD) the Bolshoi Theater, and on tour with the Tokyo Philharmonic in Japan. Fedora at the Royal Swedish Opera House, the three leading roles in Puccini’s Il Trittico at the Salzburger Festspiele, Marie in Wozzeck at the Salzburger Festspiele (recorded on DVD) and Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Manon Lescaut at Oper Frankfurt, the Wiener Staatsoper and at the Bolshoi Theatre, Marietta in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt at Teatro alla Scala, Nastasya in Charodeika at Oper Frankfurt, Nedda (Pagliacci) and Cio-Cio San at the Wiener Staatsoper, Chrysothemis in Elektra and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at the Salzburger Festspiele, Rusalka at the Teatro Real Madrid (available on DVD), the Royal Opera House, the Bayerische Staatsoper and in concert with the Czech Philharmonic, Jenufa at the Royal Opera House, the Staatsoper Berlin and the Wiener Staatsoper, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin at the Wiener Staatsoper, Pique Dame at the Teatro alla Scala, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd at Vilnius City Opera, and Senta in Der Fliegende Hollander at the Bayreuth Festspiele (available on DVD). On the concert stage, she has performed Shostakovich 14 with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Alexander Shelley and the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Beethoven IX under Riccardo Muti at the Salzburg Festival, Aids-Stiftung Gala at the Staatsoper Berlin, Marie in Drei Bruchstücke aus Wozzeck at the Teatro del Maggio and the Elbphilharmonie conducted by Zubin Mehta, Iolanta with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Kirill Petrenko and R. Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo.

Booklet for Laws of Solitude. Strauss: Four Last Songs