It takes one amazing singer to successfully perform the “Four Last Songs” by Richard Strauss. One such singer was Lucia Popp whom I heard several times as a young fellow, when the family lived in Vienna for a year.
Soprano Lucia Popp was born on Nov. 12, 1939, and destined for a rather potent career at an early age. Born in the Slovak State, she originally set out on a course to study drama at the Bratislava Academy. She originally started taking voice lessons as a mezzo-soprano but eventually graduated as a soprano.
At age 23, Lucia Popp made her professional debut in Bratislava and in 1963 she made her Vienna State Opera at the request of Herbert Von Karajan.
Here is Ms. Popp in the music of Richard Strauss:
