Search - Gustav Mahler, Christianne Stotijn, Julius Drake :: Mahler: Lieder

A born Lieder singer emerges triumphant

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 02/13/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, the young Dutch mezzo Christianne Stotijn is a musician to her fingerstips. She graduated with a degree in violin before switching to voice in 2003, and for someone just starting out, her emotional grasp of Mahler is remarkable. Stotijn creates an emotional charge with every syllable, a talent given to few. I felt immediately that I was living in Mahler's complex world, even in the early songs that fill the first part of this CD.



Accompanisht Julius Drake is at his finest, which is as good as it gets today, and when the pair move into the mature reaches of the Ruckert lieder, the results are totally convincing. The voice is intinsically warm and beautiful, and only a fast beat at loud volumes gives me pause. Otherwise, this Mahler recital is a joy."

Lovely tribute to the thoughts and music of Gustav Mahler

Mr John Haueisen | WORTHINGTON, OHIO United States | 01/16/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was attracted to this by the word Urlicht (Primal Light) which is also the title of the fourth movement of Mahler's second symphony (subtitled Resurrection).



Mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn and her piano accompanist Julius Drake present a beautifully-done recital of songs by Gustav Mahler. (Stotijn is a young Dutch singer who has worked with notable contralto Jard van Nes.)



All the songs are presented flawlessly and movingly. Most are from Des Knaben Wunderhorn; others from the Ruckertlieder.



Particularly delightful are Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt, which most of us know better in its orchestral manifestation in the third movement of Symphony 2.



The Urlicht is known to those who love Mahler in its position in the Symphony 2 where it announces with the words, "O Roschen rot" (Oh little red rose) the fragility of life--life that we all cling to, and yet have to acknowledge how all-too-short and transitory it is. Removed from the orchestral setting, and presented here just as a lovely and feeling voice backed by a piano, attention is focused on the words and the composer's heartfelt sorrow at the brevity of life.



The album fittingly ends with "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" (I have lost touch with the world) of which the final line is "I live alone in my heaven, in my love and in my song"-- a very appropriate epitaph for Gustav Mahler. very highly recommended!"