Do you know what it means….?
Out of the office today so in lieu of a post from me here’s two minutes and twenty seconds of exquisite sadness delivered by the voice of the great Billie Holliday. No singer in history ever managed to express so much through such slender lyrics. The piano is played by Charlie Beal on this recording.
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In the Dark 
March 20, 2013 at 1:52 pm
I presume you caught this on last Sunday’s ‘Words and Music’ on radio 3? If there’s such a thing as a ‘method singer’ it’s Holiday. Her lilting, wistfully yearning yet relaxed vocal delivery conveys the pain of regret, and who’s sublime depth is matched by that same lazy Mississippi
March 20, 2013 at 6:59 pm
Yes indeed, that’s precisely what reminded me of this record…and didn’t it go well with I’m Abendrot from the Four Last Songs?
March 21, 2013 at 4:33 pm
With the Robert Frost reading in between? Divine. I couldn’t get that Strauss/Schwarzkopf performance out of my head – almost literally, as I was listening whilst walking home from Falmer. I adore Strauss’ other last songs, esp. Fruhling; however the fiddly and complex vocals, which soar and swoop, didn’t phase Elisabeth at all – I’ve Soile Isokowski’s recording of them and her interpretation’s impeccable!