Christianne Stotijn . Julius Drake

A warm, dark voice pierced with bright light; this is the best way to describe the voice of the young Dutch mezzo Christianne Stotijn. In her latest CD, 'Urlicht', she has proven herself to be the ideal performer for Mahler songs. In the song recital we heard, we were greatly impressed by her interpretation of songs by Tchaikovsky. Stotijn appears to adore the Russian language and the Russian song repertoire, an affection she shares with the pianist Julius Drake. Tchaikovsky's songs -- of which there are more than a hundred - are rarely heard in concert. Undeservedly so, for as a lyrical composer of the highest order he was born for the song genre and is a master of conjuring up atmosphere. Tchaikovsky's songs are probably most comparable to Schumann's; especially because of the extensive intros and epilogues written for solo piano. The piano section is certainly not limited to pure accompaniment, but often engages in a dialogue with the singing or has its own dynamic. The colourful textures in Tchaikovsky's songs gave rise to a number of orchestrations by him and other composers. It is high time this repertoire was re-discovered.