One of the last wishes of the late Richard Strauss was that Kirsten Flagstad should be the soprano to introduce the four songs which he finished in 1948, the year before his death at 85 (TIME, Sept. 19). "I would like to make it possible," he wrote to her, "that [the songs] should be at your disposal for a world premiere in the course of a concert with a first-class conductor and orchestra." In London last week Composer Strauss's wish was fulfilled to the letter.
With Albert Hall packed for the occasion, great-domed German...
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