Mezzo-soprano serenades for V-day

Author: Andrew Throdahl

It seemed auspicious that mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn, with her Botticellian locks expressively scarfed over her gown, performed for the Middlebury community on Valentine's Day at the Kevin P. Mahaney '84 Center for the Arts. Her program was as befitting as her appearance, with a variety of Romantically oriented, or at least Romantic-era, songs by Schumann, Brahms and Tchaikovsky.

Schumann's 25-minute song cycle "Liederkreis," also known as the Eichendorff Lieder, occupied the first half of the program. Last year Middlebury was fortunate enough to hear "Liederkreis" performed by the baritone Christian Gerhaher, who brought a keen dramatic sense to the cycle. Stotijn, with her remarkable accompanist Joseph Breinl, performed the work in soft, nocturnal hues, shaping the individual songs' introspection and poignancy. While "Liederkreis" can be performed by men and women with equal success, certain movements do seem designed for men. In "Waldesgespraech," for instance, a gallant man accosts a woman who turns out to be the witch Lorelei. The lyrics and accompaniment seem suited for a great big hunk of vocal manliness. Nevertheless, Stotijn managed to sound like as much of a hunter as her range allowed, and then in turn like the castrating seductress Lorelei - which is a testament to her deft control of tone and color.

Throughout the evening Joseph Breinl impressed with his soft playing. Anyone who has studied piano will agree that playing the piano piano can be an excruciating and thankless obstacle. Breinl consistently managed to distinguish pianos from pianissimos and pianissimos from pianississimos. In "Waldesgespraech" Breinl executed an evocative fade-out, and in the final song, "Fruehlingsnacht," made the repeated chords as airy as Schumann indicates. I never felt like Breinl was holding back too much, or was being so meticulous that he sounded stiff. Gerhaher's accompanist Gerold Huber, on the other hand, was as tense as a neurosurgeon, and indeed he operated on Schumann's score with a sterile scalpel.

The set of seven Brahms lieder that opened the second half were played with much the same thoughtfulness as the Schumann. It seemed that Stotijn was a bit more warmed up for the Brahms - her high notes had more ring. Breinl was thoroughly at ease in Brahms' more complex accompaniments, particularly in the stormy "Verzagen" and "Auf dem Kirchhofe."

After a brief pause, the duo turned to Tchaikovsky's settings of Tolstoy and Goethe texts (among others). Some of the songs, particularly "Had I only known," had the characters of operatic arias, and a few seemed to recall the lengthy "letter" aria in Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin. Perhaps I am only making this association because the music suddenly became so extroverted and schmaltzy after hearing the relatively antisocial personalities of Schumann and Brahms.

Stotijn released an album of Tchaikovsky entitled "Tchaikovsky Romances," but with pianist Julius Drake instead of Breinl. Breinl was far more inspired and passionate Saturday night than Drake is on the CD, particularly in "The Sun has set" and "Whether day reigns," although he took roughly the same tempos.

Stotijn's voice reminds me of that glass-shattering soprano of the '80s and '90s, Jessye Norman, who had a similarly lavish tone and regal presence. More importantly, Stotijn is an intelligent performer, and I hope that she collaborates with the equally capable Joseph Breinl for more of the lieder repertoire. Stotijn has released three albums, including the aforementioned "Tchaikovsky Romances," which can be purchased on iTunes or rented from the College music library.