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RPO/Edusei/Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha review – the makings of a classic Strauss

RPO/Edusei/Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha review – the makings of a classic Strauss

Cadogan Hall, London South African soprano Rangwanasha proved she is the real deal in a performance of Strauss’s Four Last Songs that’s let down by the RPO’s oddly pinched, poorly tuned backing ‘We’re here for her,” the man next to me says, pointing to Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha’s name on the programme. He’s not alone. The South African soprano – winner of the song prize at 2021’s Cardiff Singer of the World and more recently the Salzburg festival’s starry Herbert von Karajan prize (fellow laureates include Daniil Trifonov, Janine Jansen and Lise Davidsen) – is the real deal: a singer with a voice of sumptuous, indecent beauty, and serious musicality. So the chance to hear her join the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for Strauss’s Four Last Songs brought out a healthy midweek audience. And with good reason. Rangwanasha’s Strauss is still under construction, still finding the ebb and flow of these autumnal farewells to life, art and love, but there are the makings of a generational performance here. Youthful and wide-eyed in Frühling, an airy wonder in her delivery, she brought a backlit glow to the central songs, before allowing it to suffuse and engulf the texture in the welcome release of Im Abendrot. Continue reading...