The Observer, July 16, 2006

Anthony Holden

Richard Strauss, Lieder

Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Helmut Deutsch (piano) Harmonia Mundi HMC 901879

Richard Strauss is under-regarded as a composer of songs. Before and after he found his operatic voice with Salome, he wrote more than 200 - most for piano accompaniment, culminating in the luminous Four Last Songs. With the exception of 'Schlechtes Wetter' ('Rough Weather', to words by Heine), the 28 on this elegant collection all date from the productive period of 1885-1900, when a variety of poets took the composer's fancy in a wide range of moods. The honey-toned German tenor Jonas Kaufmann does them tender justice.