Brahms, Four Songs

In April 1972, the mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig, accompanied by Leonard Bernstein, gave a recital with lieder by Johannes Brahms in Vienna's Musikvereinssaal. They performed the same program in New York's Town Hall, and, while on a concert tour of Israel, recorded it for television at the Tel Aviv Museum in May 1972. Christa Ludwig, a highly expressive and intelligent artist, has been hailed as the best Mozart and Strauss mezzo of her generation. In addition, she has always shown a great predilection for the lied, and is known for her soulful interpretations of lieder by Brahms, Mahler and Schubert.