Favourite song at the moment?

@MartinII Is that one of the Four Last Songs?

@helenS No. (They would be high on my list too.) It’s just a self-standing song, I think. Many years ago I heard Christa Ludwig sing it as an encore at her farewell recital in London. She was in tears afterwards, as was I. Tomorrow, but no tomorrow, you might say.

@MartinII My favorite "Last Song" is the third one, "Beim Schlafen Gehen", sung by Elizabeth Schwarzkopf.
Or maybe Jessye Norman?
Or perhaps Kirsten Flagstad?
There is no better or worse, on this level of perfection.

@helenS Schwarzkopf and Flagstad are both great in this music. I don’t think I have heard Norman sing it, though she was certainly a great, if somewhat elusive, singer.

My current favourite recording is by Elisabeth Soderstrom. That’s partly because it’s a recording of a live concert at which I was present, but also because I think her relatively dark, deep voice (she was more a mezzo than a soprano) suits this music perfectly. And the conductor, Antal Dorati, gets it just right, avoiding the sentimentality and overly slow tempi to which some more celebrated conductors succumb.