(Photo: ©2025 Chris Lee)

Conductor and Lerman-Newbauer Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin led the Met Orchestra at NYC’s Carnegie Hall for a special night featuring Richard Strauss works on Thursday, June 12, 2025, showcasing one of the world’s leading lyric-dramatic sopranos, Elza van den Heever, who just concluded her season of performances as Salome at Met Opera. The night was full of standing ovations, lively applause, and a celebration honoring the Met Orchestra’s concertmaster, violinist David Chan, for his 25th season.

Carnegie Hall is a hub for once-in-a-lifetime performances like this and given the opportunity to experience the transcendental works of Richard Strauss (1864-1949) as performed by the Met Orchestra and Elza van den Heever, one might feel inspired to dig a bit deeper into Strauss’ meaningful works as a late Romantic composer.

“Der Rosenkavalier” Suite (1909-1910; arr. 1944)

The Met Orchestra’s performance of “Der Rosenkavalier” Suite illuminated its lushness and captivating waltzes, like a rose blooming before the eyes of its beholder, that makes Strauss’ famous composition what it is – truly divine. Conductor Nézet-Séguin brought to the forefront the most subtle nuances, especially in the strings’ section, by way of his intelligent use of space and time. Carnegie Hall’s acoustics are uniquely attuned to amplifying even a pin drop of sound onstage. There is nothing that escapes the listener’s ear in this hall, and it is this level of intimacy, in my opinion, that makes this one of the world’s most extraordinarily informative stages. One has many possibilities to learn, to feel, and to come back to what ultimately brings someone to this hall – the music. Nézet-Séguin’s Met Orchestra did this quite well. 

The rise and fall of dynamics in this work, as performed by the Met Orchestra, created a wave of sound, including rolling backdrops of tenderness and titillating musical passages, that seemed to stretch across space and time to become one with the universality of music. The transcendent gap that opens when one feels music’s power take hold became apparent from the very beginning of this performance, and continued throughout. I also could not help but remember Hitchcock’s “Suspicion” (1941), starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine, and think about how this psychological thriller housed Johann Strauss II’s “Wiener Blut” Op. 354 waltz (“Viennese Blood,” “Vienna Blood,” or “Viennese Spirit”). The moments of rolling nostalgia created by this waltz effectively pull the listener back under to feel it all over again through Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” Suite, showcasing this waltz’s ability to reel a listener in and harness a most delicious sensuality. The decision to open with this composition was only the beginning of the evening’s highlights.

Soprano Elza van den Heever’s Legendary Interpretation of Richard Strauss’ Lieder

Soprano Elza van den Heever made her Met debut as Elisabeth I in Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda” to much positive critical acclaim due to her unencumbered dedication to the role not only vocally, but also psychologically and physically (she even shaved her head). Her willingness to dive head-first into her roles is one of the qualities that has made her legendary since the beginning of her career. However, one cannot deny her most powerful quality, that continues to stand out from other performers, is her presence. Not only does van den Heever seriously take on a role, she embodies it, lives it, and evolves it throughout her being. There is a spinning energy that van den Heever works with and channels when concentrating on the music, and also when closely examining what psychological effects music creates in a listener’s interpretation. In short, van den Heever reveals the timelessness that is felt in the ‘transcendent gap’ I mentioned earlier. This in-between place is where she resides, excels, and most efficiently and effectively synthesizes. In her performances, she channels the music so purely that one might not be able to distinguish van den Heever’s ‘existence’ from her role, and this is not to be taken lightly. Van den Heever informs us all that singing is and always will be a spiritual practice, even to the bitter end.

Richard Strauss’ works as performed by van den Heever on this particular night included: “Zueignung,” Op. 10, No. 1, “Wiegenlied,” Op. 41, No. 1, “Allerseelen,” Op. 10, No. 8, “Cäcilie,” Op. 27, No. 2, and “Befreit,” Op. 39, No. 4. Her voice’s earthy richness came to life during the opening phrase of “Zueignung” as she sang ‘Ja, du weisst es, teure Seele,’ (Yes, you know it, dearest soul) with sumptuous ease and delight. Her silvery upper register spun into the hall during the phrase ‘Und du segnetest den Trank,’ (And you blessed the drink). She showed extra care in between phrases ‘Und beschworst darin die Bösen, Bis ich, was ich nie gewesen,’ (And you exorcised the evils in it, Until I, as I had never been before), as she drew a short breath between ‘Bis ich’ and ‘was ich niew gewesen.’ Subtle details such as this meant the world for listeners who were on the edge of their seats, taking breaths at the same time as she did, feeling everything she felt along the way. The concluding words of this piece, ‘Habe Dank’ (Have thanks), resonated beyond the walls of Carnegie Hall and into the ethereal. The audience applauded immediately (and Nézet-Séguin welcomed this response in full, reminding us all, in jest, that this was not a cycle).

“Wiegenlied” (Lullaby) was the perfect transition for listeners as the dreamy atmosphere that only Strauss can create manifested and set the stage for van den Heever to explore vocally. The tricky entrance at the start was where her voice gently and calmly brought to life the phrase ‘Träume, träume, du mein süsses Leben,’ (Dream, dream, my sweet life). Her pianissimo floated and flourished with such gracefulness and compassion that one might have felt their own arm hairs raise in attention. Van den Heever emphasized the softness, fragility, and lightness of Strauss’ composition in such a magical way that it is hard to articulate in words. For me, I felt a vastness in the comfort of being in this moment, where the state of our world’s politics and war machine could not overwhelm me with their senseless ideologies, brutality, and evil fear-mongering tactics that only inspire chaos and deterioration of the human soul. ‘Fear eats the soul,’ once said the character of Ali in one of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s most famous films. And here, in this most holy space of listening and openness at Carnegie Hall, I felt my own fears dissolve and the joy of life enter into me again. Van den Heever reminded me how ‘to feel joy’ is a form of resistance in response to the entities of violation and destruction that do exist and are not separate from one’s human experience. It is the power of the human spirit’s benevolence, like the blossoming of a flower and the song of a bird, that sings louder than bombs and the meaningless voices of insolent and violent ideologies. Richard Strauss’ “Wiegenlied” reminded me of this and van den Heever showed me how to feel life’s joy again, especially as she sang Richard Dehmel’s text in “Wiegenlied,” ‘Träume, träume, Knospe meiner Sorgen, Von dem Tage, da die Blume spross; Von dem hellen Blütenmorgen, Da dein Seelchen sich der Welterschloss’ (Dream, dream, bud of my worries, of the day the flower bloomed; of the bright morning of the blossoming, when your little soul opened up to the world).

“Allerseelen” (All Souls’ Day) also has a unique entrance for the singer’s voice as it eases into the already lush bed of sound made by the strings’ section. Van den Heever’s soprano radiated tranquility and serenity as it began with Hermann von Gilm’s text. Her physical body seemed to relax naturally in this lied and her middle register opened up even more than it had in the two previous lieder. Her intelligent vocal arch made it all the more rewarding when she sang ‘Komm an mein Herz, dass ich dich wieder habe, wie einst im Mai’ (Come close to my heart, so that I can have you again, as once I did in May).

“Cäcilie” (Cecilia) begins with a fantastic orchestral sweep that Nézet-Séguin let loose in its profoundness. This moment in the program felt cinematic and like a switch had been flipped to amplify the celebration of Strauss. Van den Heever’s voice stayed right with this new dramatic effect and rolled over the sound of the orchestra spilling into the hall in absolute wonder. Her diction was clear and resonant with every part of Heinrich Hart’s text intact. Her high notes and upper register came into fullest body as she sang ‘Zu schweben empor, Lichtgetragen, Zu seligen Höh’en, Wenn Du es wüßtest, Du lebtest mit mir’ (To soar upwards, Borne on light, To blessed heights – If you knew, You would live with me). The palette of van den Heever’s vocal colors lit up the night, and the audience applauded in awe!

“Befreit” (Released) concluded the soprano’s showcase of Strauss’ lieder for this historic gathering. The Met Orchestra’s dreamlike atmosphere of sound was still very much intact as van den Heever weaved the undulating emotions of this lied with her voice. There are three distinct sections in this lied and on the third, van den Heever’s voice sang with extraordinary pianissimo. The orchestra matched her in this level of intimacy and as they grew together in intensity with their sound up to the climax, there was a remarkable presence of intention that made this lied into something so much more timelessly relevant. Richard Dehmel’s poem ends with the text ‘Es wird sehr bald sein, wir wissen’s beide, wir haben einander befreit vom Leide, so gab’ ich dich der Welt zurück! Dann wirst du mir nur noch im Traum erscheinen und mich segnen und mit mir weinen; O Glück!’ (It will be very soon, we both know it, we have released each other from suffering, so I returned you to the world. Then you’ll appear to me only in dreams, and you will bless me and weep with me – O happiness!), reminding us all of our own mortality and how precious life is.

“Ein Heldenleben,” Op. 40 (A Hero’s Life)

This was the first time the Met Orchestra performed Richard Strauss’ “Ein Heldenleben.” This work was also completed in 1898 and conducted by Strauss himself for his Carnegie Hall debut on February 27, 1904. To say the Met Orchestra’s choice to perform this work was iconic is an understatement. Concertmaster David Chan exceeded all expectations and relished in this composition along with Nézet-Séguin. The two worked together throughout and noticeably enjoyed their collaboration. I felt like the entire theme of the night was about feeling joy, and “Ein Heldenleben” really solidified this realization. The eight horns, five trumpets, three trombones, tuba, and tenor tuba also evoked joyfulness as the musicians filled the entire ornate circumference of Carnegie Hall with their gloriousness. This is the definition of ‘a hero’s life.’

(Photo: ©2025 Chris Lee)