Stop whatever you're doing and put on the ninth track of the second disc. That's the finale of the third act of
Strauss' Arabella from a Salzburg Festival performance on July 29, 1958, and it's the moment when
Lisa della Casa's Arabella returns to
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's Mandryka and pledges herself body and soul to him. It's one of the supreme moments in
Strauss' operas and
della Casa and
Fischer-Dieskau carry it off with consummate musicianship and transcendent humanity and you owe it to yourself to hear it right now. When you've sufficiently recovered, if you still haven't had enough, listen to the 10th through 13th tracks. Those are
Strauss' Four Last Songs sung once again by
della Casa but accompanied here by
Karl Böhm and the
Vienna Philharmonic from another the Salzburg Festival performance from the next day. It's one of the great recordings of the songs and if at the end you are not hopelessly in love with
della Casa's lightly radiantly, endlessly lovely voice, there may be something wrong with you. Orfeo's sound is remarkably clear and vivid considering the age of the recordings.