Christianne Stotijn / Julius Drake TCHAIKOVSKY Romances
This is a stunningly beautiful disc, and can be recommended without reservation to anyone who loves the vocal repertoire. I am not enough of a linguist to know if the Dutch mezzo’s Russian is perfectly pronounced, though I can say her diction is clear with crisp consonants. And the disc has direct competition from Philips 442013—a disc of Tchaikovsky songs sung by the great Russian Olga Borodina. Thirteen of the 20 songs on Stotijn’s disc are duplicated on Borodina’s, and as much as I like this, I would find it hard to recommend that kind of duplication to the casual song collector. But for the serious collector, or to anyone who doesn’t have the Borodina, I will state a slight preference for this disc.
One difference is at the piano. Larissa Gergieva plays quite well for Borodina, but Julius Drake is one of the most imaginative and accomplished song accompanists working today, and he brings something special to the piano parts here. But that is not to minimize the accomplishments of Christianne Stotijn. I find a greater range of color and imagination in her timbre and her inflections and phrasing. The hushed beauty of the end of “My Genius, My Angel, My Friend” is quite remarkable, and at the other extreme so is the drama and passion of “Had I Only Known.” She can float gorgeous soft tones, or she can open up full throttle without any edge to the voice. These are highly communicative and deeply moving performances of some very beautiful songs.
Fine notes, complete texts (transliterated and English—no Cyrillic), and extremely natural well-balanced sound quality round out this very special recording. (FANFARE: Henry Fogel)
One difference is at the piano. Larissa Gergieva plays quite well for Borodina, but Julius Drake is one of the most imaginative and accomplished song accompanists working today, and he brings something special to the piano parts here. But that is not to minimize the accomplishments of Christianne Stotijn. I find a greater range of color and imagination in her timbre and her inflections and phrasing. The hushed beauty of the end of “My Genius, My Angel, My Friend” is quite remarkable, and at the other extreme so is the drama and passion of “Had I Only Known.” She can float gorgeous soft tones, or she can open up full throttle without any edge to the voice. These are highly communicative and deeply moving performances of some very beautiful songs.
Fine notes, complete texts (transliterated and English—no Cyrillic), and extremely natural well-balanced sound quality round out this very special recording. (FANFARE: Henry Fogel)
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