If The Owl Calls Again

Christianne Stotijn

If The Owl Calls Again
Format
Audio
Published
15 May 2015
ISBN
5054196393755

If The Owl Calls Again

Christianne Stotijn

Dutch mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn presents an album of songs on the theme of nature and religion.

From works by Martin, Ravel and Mussorgsky, to a world premiere by Dutch composer Fant de Kanter, and featuring song texts in Hebrew, Armenian, Russian, French, English, German and Dutch, this is a beautifully crafted and highly diverse album. This new album sees Christianne re-united with many of her regular musical collaborators: Joseph Breinl, Antoine Tamestit, her brother Rick Stotijn, Toon Fret, Olivier Boekhoorn and the Oxalys Ensemble.

Track listing:

Bridge : Three Songs for voice, viola and piano (H76)

Caplet : Ecoute mon coeur

Delage : Quatre Poèmes hindous

Kanter :

Abboen

Onbot

Arapka

Martin, F : Trois Chants de Noël

Marx:

Durch einsamkeiten

Adagio

Mussorgsky :

Prayer

Evening Prayer

The soul flew quietly through the celestial skies

Ravel : Deux mélodies hébraïques

 

Review

Christianne Stotijn’s voice is hauntingly beautiful. Her intimate singing may not immediately capture your attention, but if you stop to listen – really listen – you’ll surely be struck by her warm tone and nuanced delivery of poetry. The Dutch mezzo-soprano, whose profile is relatively low in Australia, has released numerous recital, opera, and concert recordings, and her most recent, If the Owl Calls Again, is a meditation on the wisdom of the owl. ‘The call of the owl is like a cry of pain, of life and of death. It’s a call for humanity to return to its mission, to the reason we exist,’ Stotjin explains.

Accordingly, the CD features interesting, diverse, and often little-known art-song repertoire. A personal favourite is the ‘Kaddish’ from Ravel’s Deux Mélodies Hébraïques. Here, Stotijn’s singing is truly magnificent and moving, and her delivery of the Hebrew is both grief-stricken and otherworldly. It’s a treat to hear Stotijn sing in her native Dutch in the three Fant de Kanter songs, particularly the unaccompanied ‘Abboen’. Various instruments perform throughout, including flute, double bass, viola, and duduk, working to evoke the image of the splendid owl, as Stotijn set out to achieve. A superb album.


Alexandra Mathew

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