Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is still and always the eminent lyric soprano. At fifty-six years old, she stills radiates like a thirty-year old soprano! I know, because I have all of her recordings on CD from her 1983 release to the current 1999 release of "Maori Songs."I've heard Flemming, Bonney, and Graham; Bonney and Flemming does not even come close to Te Kanawa's feet in Strauss repertoire!I've had the privilege of owning the "Vier Letze Lieder" with Te Kanawa as the soloist reinforced by the world-class orchestra, The Vienna Philharmonic under Sir Georg's baton. Flemming's interpretation of "Vier Letze Lieder" does not make a scratch on the surface of Richard Strauss' "Vier Letze Lieder."Fans will compare Flemming to Te Kanawa, but it is fultile for doing so is like comparing a neophyte novice student to a grand-master sensei.