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Oxford Lieder Festival 2004 |
Dutch mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn teamed up with accompanist Julian Drake to present a concert of songs by Schumann, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss (in German) and Sibelius (in Swedish) as part of the two-week Oxford Lieder Festival.
Only in its third year, the festival has an impressive list of singers and accompanists and covers a wide selection of the neglected ‘art song’ – songs by classical composers that are often overlooked in favour of their instrumental work. The venue is the delightful Holywell Music Rooms, intimate and comfortable with excellent acoustics and ambience - in fact it might have been designed for the performance of these intimate and accessible songs. (I say accessible, despite all songs being in European languages, as a booklet of translations is provided enabling audience members to follow, either in translation or in the original). Tonight’s audience was select, connoisseurs all (or so it appeared to my untrained eye), often too deeply immersed in the repertoire to remember to applaud, until the end of a section when the players took a bow and then the audience gave it up enthusiastically. Pre-performance there was a timely remember about mobiles and noisy page turning. As well as the translations booklet, there is an 82-page glossy festival programme with details and descriptions of all concert programmes and full artist biographies. Christianne launched confidently into the first Schumann song and commanded the performance immediately. The style demands much of the singer – apart from obvious mastery of German and Swedish diction - poise, dynamics and acting skills are requisite and, in this case, masterfully executed. The highlight of the first period was Mahler’s Wo die schonen Trompeten blasen, which employs several atmospheric key changes and alterations in pace as the story of lovers separated by the grave unfolds. The highlight after the interval was the melancholy yet impassioned Svarta rosor (Black Roses), also moving between major and minor keys to great effect. As the final song ended, the audience woke from its collective trance, finally remembering what it means to show appreciation through applause. They were treated to an unexpected double encore for their pains. Christianne is obviously a singer of the highest calibre and gave an impressive, poised and well-executed performance from start to finish. If this is representative of the quality of this festival series then you should get along to the Holywell Music Rooms at the earliest opportunity to enjoy a musical form that does not travel this way very often. Otherwise, you will have to wait until next year’s festival to enjoy. Kathryn Karakaya, 18.10.04 |