Photo: CMNZ
When Richard Strauss wrote his Four Last Songs, his final masterpiece, his soprano soloist had the backing of a full symphony orchestra.
It sounds magnificent, but the poetry Strauss sets to music - the words of Hermann Hesse and Joseph von Eichendorff - could also sit with a far more intimate approach.
Which is what you'll get if you can make it to one of the gigs in NZTrio's latest national tour, in which the chamber ensemble accompanies soprano Emma Pearson in a brand new arrangement by New Zealand composer, Salina Fisher.
NZTrio violinist Amalia Hall spoke with RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump ahead of the eight-venue tour for Chamber Music New Zealand, which begins at the Auckland Town Hall on 8 October and ends on 18 October in Nelson.
Hall says she's loving the subtleties Fisher's arrangement is bringing out in the Strauss score.
She's also loving the fact that Fisher's version of the Four Last Songs, for four players (instead of the usual 90), means people outside the country's big cities who wouldn't be able to hear it live will get a chance to do so.
The programme also includes songs by the American composer Amy Beach and Rachmaninov's Vocalise (both sung by Emma Pearson), and works for trio alone by Salina Fisher, and the Uzbekistan-born Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin.
Strauss - saved his best until last. Photo: Wikicommons
