Friday, January 19, 2007
8:00 P.M.
Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Christianne Stotijn’s honors have accumulated rapidly: the 2005–2006 ECHO Rising Stars, a 2005 Borletti Buitoni Award, and the BBC New Generations Artists Scheme. She has sung at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, in Paris, Cologne, and at the Royal Opera House in London. Soon she will sing the St. Matthew Passion in Boston, under Bernard Haitink, a champion of her singing since they collaborated on Mahler’s Rückert Lieder in Paris. She also sings recitals in Montreal, Washington, Schenectady, and Middlebury this year. Her program consists of songs by Schubert, Brahms, Strauss, and Ives.
Performing Arts Series Director Paul Nelson commented, "We love vocal music, including song recitals. For some reason, song recitals occur less frequently than chamber music concerts and piano recitals, which can make it difficult sometimes to find out about fine song recitalists. But word comes along every now and then—from a grapevine of colleagues who also present song recitals, from artists’ managers who know that we have an interest in this form, and from other “tipsters,” often collaborative artists who have begun working with a particular singer.
So it was that we learned of Christianne Stotijn: The pianist Julius Drake, who has performed at Middlebury with tenor Ian Bostridge and baritone Gerald Finley, told us about her. We pursued the lead and heard a recording of her singing Gustav Mahler’s Rueckert Lieder, in a performance in Paris, with an orchestra under the direction of her countryman Bernard Haitink. At the end of this live performance, there is a silence, then applause, then applause and cheering that go on for minutes. On the basis of this recording and others we’ve received, we invited her to sing here. She will sing songs by Brahms, Schubert, Richard Strauss, and Ives. She will be accompanied in this recital Joseph Breinl."
Tickets: $15/12/5.
http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets
or 802-443-MIDD (6433).
Concert Program:
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Alte Liebe, op. 72/1
Feldeinsamkeit, op. 86/2
O komme, holde Sommernacht, op. 58/4
In stiller Nacht, Nr. 42 aus “Deutsche Volkslieder”
Von ewiger Liebe, op. 43/1
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Auf dem Wasser zu singen, D. 774
Du bist die Ruh, D. 776
Der Zwerg, D. 771
Die Götter Griechenlands, D. 677
Erlkönig, D. 328
Intermission
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Ich schwebe, op. 48/2
Waldseligkeit, op. 49/1
Morgen, op. 27/4
Caecilie, op. 27/2
Befreit, op. 39/4
Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Feldeinsamkeit
Ich grolle nicht
The Swimmers
Memories
The Circus Band
For program notes, please contact Events and Residency Manager Allison Coyne Carroll at carroll@middlebury.edu
Artist Biographies:
Christianne Stotijn, mezzo-soprano
Born in Delft in 1977, Christianne Stotijn began her musical studies as a violinist and studied both violin and voice at the Amsterdam Conservatoire gaining her solo diploma for violin in 2000. Her voice coaches are Udo Reinemann, Jard van Nes, and Dame Janet Baker.
Christianne Stotijn has won several prizes including being a finalist in the International Wettbewerb fur Liedkunst (Stuttgart) in 2001 as well as the 2005/06 ECHO Rising Stars and 2005 Borletti Buitoni Award. She has also been selected for the BBC’s New Generation Artist Scheme.
She has given many concerts and recitals in her own country and abroad, highlights of which include appearances at the Musee d’Orsay, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Orchestre des Champs-Elysees, Concerto Koln, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Orchestre National de Paris, and Concertgebouworkest. Conductors with whom she has collaborated include Bernard Haitink, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, Frans Bruggen, Jaap van Zweden, Claus Peter Flor, and Philippe Herreweghe.
Her future operatic engagements include Isabella in ‘L’Italiana in Algeri’ at the Aix en Provence Festival, Varvara in ‘Katya Kabanova’ at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Ottavia in ‘L’Incoronazione di Poppea’ at the Netherlands Opera and Cornelia in ‘Giulio Cesare’ at the Monnaie, Netherlands Opera and Bilbao Opera.
Future concert engagements include Das Lied von der Erde with the Rotterdam Philharmonic also conducted by Wigglesworth, Kindertotenlieder with VARA Radio at the Concertgebouw, St. Matthew Passion with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bernard Haitink, and Ruckert Lieder with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra also conducted by Maestro Haitink.
As part of the ECHO Rising Stars prize she will present recitals at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall, Philharmonie Cologne. She will also present recitals at the Wigmore Hall, Washington DC, Montreal, New York, and Vermont.
Artist's website: http://www.christiannestotijn.com/
Joseph Breinl, piano
Joseph Breinl was born in Munich. He studied piano in Munich with Karl-Hermann Mrongovius and Gitti Pirner and earned his diploma in 2001. As scholarship holder of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes he continued his studies at the Conservatorium of Amsterdam and studied both solo piano and song accompaniment with Willem Brons and Rudolf Jansen. In 2003 Joseph Breinl graduated with the highest distinction.
During his studies he attended masterclasses with Roger Vignoles, Sarah Walker, Paul Badura-Skoda, and Graham Johnson. After his masterclass, Graham Johnson invited the young accompanist to come to London to work with him more intensively. Graham Johnson awarded him also the scholarship of the Klavierfestival Ruhr 2002 and became his teacher and mentor.
Joseph Breinl is currently employed as an accompanist and vocal coach at the Musikhochschule München. He was a prize winner at the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition 2003, and with the Dutch mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn, he also was awarded the ECHO Rising Star prize 2005.
Joseph Breinl works together regularly with Christianne Stotijn and Mattijs van de Woerd. Recent performances include also recitals with Michelle Breedt and Udo Reinemann. Since June 2004 he is also the song accompanist for the German soprano Kammersängerin Waltraud Meier.
Joseph Breinl has appeared as an accompanist at the Munich Opera Festival, Klavierfestival Ruhr, Richard-Strauss-Festival Garmisch, and at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. He performed at the Munich Opera House, Bonn’s Beethovenhall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, London’s Wigmore Hall and at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, Austria.
Under the auspices of the ECHO Rising Star prize he and Christianne Stotijn will perform at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Megaron Athen, Philharmonie Cologne, Carnegie Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, Stockholm Konzerthaus, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Palais des Beaux Arts Brussels, and Symphony Hall Birmingham. He also appears in recital at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris, Mozarteum Salzburg, Santory Hall Tokyo, and at the Delft Chamber Music Festival.
Press Quotes:
The Proms 2006: Mahler Symphony No. 2
"Christianne Stotijn, who gave an impassioned account of the fourth movement text (Urlicht), a re-working of the "St Anthony of Padua's Sermon to the Fishes" song from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. This was the highlight of the evening." --Music OMH
The Proms 2006: Mahler Symphony No. 2
"Urlicht was fittingly rapt, with Christianne Stotijn a deeply expressive mezzo soloist." -- Barry Millington, Evening Standard
The Proms 2006: Mahler Symphony No. 2
"Yet after that, magic started to happen. The young Dutch mezzo Christianne Stotijn sang a rapt and lyrically phrased Urlicht." -- Morrison, Times
The Proms 2006: Mahler Symphony No. 2
"The mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn sang the Urlicht movement with a richness of timbre and expressive diction." --
Daily Telegraph
The Proms 2006: Mahler Symphony No. 2
"Christianne Stotijn's mezzo solo, emerging out of stillness, fetchingly combined warmth and fresh, eager ardour." --Robert Maycock, Independent
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis, Barbican Centre London
"...Stotijn’s gorgeous mezzo was a miracle of warm, rich tone."--MusicWeb International 05-07-2005
Oxford Lieder Festival 2004
"...Dutch mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn teamed up with accompanist Julius 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... 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... Christianne is obviously a singer of the highest calibre and gave an impressive, poised and well-executed performance from start to finish." -- Daily Info, Oxford 18-10-2004