Rachel Willis-Sørensen Embarks on Tour with Strauss’s “Four Last Songs”
This November and December Rachel Willis-Sørensen brings Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs to concert halls across North America and Europe. The series includes two performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Gustavo Gimeno, followed by five European concerts with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and conductor Daniel Harding in Rome, Paris, and Vienna.
Rachel has a long history performing Strauss’ Four Last Songs, making it the piece she has perhaps performed the most. In addition to singing it in concert halls around the world, she performed the piece for HRH King Charles birthday celebration at Buckingham Palace, and recorded the pieces for her 2023 album, Strauss: Four Last Songs, released by Sony Classical. The recording features the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig conducted by Andris Nelsons and also includes the closing scene of Strauss’s final opera, Capriccio.
Critic Jason Victor Serinus praised Rachel’s interpretation in his review for San Francisco Classical Voice explaining that “even if you never see the liner notes, Willis-Sørensen’s approach to the songs as an orchestral cycle guiding listeners on a path from life to death is palpable.” He also observed that her singing “pulls you deep into the glories of Strauss’s music,” and proclaims that “Willis-Sørensen and Nelson’s climatic passages are everything Strauss might have wanted.”
Listen to the album here.
Upcoming Four Last Songs Performances:
- November 12 & 14: Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto. Conductor: Gustavo Gimeno. Tickets.
- November 26: Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome. Conductor: Daniel Harding. Tickets.
- Novembers 27: Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome. Conductor: Daniel Harding. Tickets.
- November 28: Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome. Conductor: Daniel Harding. Tickets.
- November 30: Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Philharmonie de Paris. Conductor Daniel Harding. Tickets.
- December 4: Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Wiener Konzerthaus. Conductor: Daniel Harding. Tickets.
Watch Rachel perform Frühling from the Four Last Songs here, September here, and discuss the work here.