SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD RECITAL  REVIEW
 

Oxford Lieder Festival  (3):  Christianne Stotijn  (mezzo-soprano), Julius Drake  (piano),  Holywell Music Room, Oxford 21.10.2007 (LD)

The Holywell Music Room provided the perfect backdrop for an intimate Sunday afternoon recital programme of Grieg, Brahms and Schumann. This was also the setting in which Dutch mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn and Julius Drake first made their song partnership debut in 2004.

Although there were no fireworks, Stotijn gave a committed and artistic interpretation of Grieg’s Six Songs Op48. Her attention to diction and colouring of text was impeccable, and her dynamic range was exciting, notably in the beautifully controlled mezza voce of Die verschwiegene Nachtigall. Stotijn effortlessly sustained the atmosphere throughout the cycle from Heine’s Gruss to Bosenstedt’s Ein Traum.

Her performance of Schumann’s Andersen Lieder had equal finesse. Supported by Drake’s expert characterisation, she took us on an emotional journey from the sinister implications of Muttertraum to the anguish of Der Soldat, culminating in the humorous crescendo and stringendo of Verratane Liebe.

Stotijn’s rich tone has great warmth and evenness from the top to her lower register. Although there is some weight to it, hers is a voice well suited to early music as well as romantic song. This is an excellent vehicle for interpreting Brahms’ songs of melancholy, despair and death. Her first set of Brahms was a combination of settings of different poets including the better known von Liliencron’s Auf dem Kirchhofe and Heine’s Der Tod das ist die kühle Nacht. She sounded completely at ease with this repertoire and conveyed the emotional depth of the texts with colour and spontaneity. The Vier ernste Gesänge, however was the highlight of the afternoon. She concluded the programme with these four monumental songs which require great stamina, composure and gravity from both singer and pianist. The first three of these embody the composer’s obsession with death and oblivion, whereas the final song has more warmth and religious hope. Stotijn and Drake both captured the essence of each with true commitment to the text and its musical setting. This was an outstanding duo performance,

 Lyndall Dawson