Reviews

2016 - 2000 || 1999-1985
The performance of the contemporary arrangement of the Haydn cantata “Arianna di Naxos” in “Maria quaerit Christum Filium” was a shining example of high drama, tangible emotion and vocal intensity. Uncontrived, unpretentious, with narrative force, virtuosic yet restrained, from tender to expressive. That’s what the artist demanded and what captured the audience.

Rellinger Kirche, La dolce risonanza, Anton Holzapfel, Pinneberger Tageblatt, 22.08.2016

It was an artistic triumph for the work and its interpretation beyond anything you could imagine. What Christiane Oelze proclaims is never artificial. She always believes in what she’s singing and immerses herself from the start in the spiritual and emotional world of the music, immediately carrying the listener with her.

Kunststation St. Peter, Köln, Hindemith/Das Marienleben, Eric Schneider, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, 23.3.2016

 
The vocal highpoint was the soloist Christiane Oelze’s poignantly beautiful rendering of the wonderful solo ‘Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit’. Her faultless voice hovered like a guardian angel over the whole concert. Perhaps Brahms should have burdened the soprano rather than the baritone with two solos here.

Philharmonie Berlin, Brahms-Requiem, Windsbacher Knabenchor, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Karl-Friedrich Beringer, Berliner Morgenpost 8.11.2010

Sensitively and intensively accompanied by the Leipzig Quartet, Oelze won over the audience with a most natural, unpretentious, girlish tone quality. True to the rustic intonation of the verses set to music and with lightly tipped high notes, she preserves the folk-song character of the Mendelssohn Lieder. Altogether, she presents herself here at the peak of her potential.

CD-Produktion A. Reimann: Lied-Transkriptionen, Leipziger Streichquartett, Kölner Stadtanzeiger 26.11.2015

Five quite delicate pieces were brought together through which the soprano affected the audience so deeply that complete stillness descended and the final applause seemed never to let up. Ständchen Op.17 No. 2 was not only unbelievably beautifully sung by Christiane Oelze but also really acted. ‘Das Rosenband’ op.36, 1 and ‘Waldseligkeit’ op. 49, 1 radiated warmth and exquisite lightness, but what the singer achieved with two of Strauss’s melancholy pieces can hardly be expressed in words. Perhaps some idea of the effect they had can be conveyed by saying that the memory of them alone is enough to bring tears of joy. Experiencing the unfolding of such emotional intensity, born as it was here in ‘Morgen’ op. 27/4 and ‘Allerseelen’ op. 10/8 out of pure simplicity, is the thing of a moment and a rare piece of fortune.

Semperoper Dresden, Strauss-Lieder, Staatskapelle Dresden, Neeme Järvi, DNN 3.5.2010

The excellent soprano Christiane Oelze captured the character of the piece perfectly: With intensity of expression, differentiated timbre and assured technique, she created an atmosphere perfectly congruent with the poetry of the work.

Alte Oper Frankfurt, H. Berlioz/“Les Nuits d’été, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, David Afkham, FAZ 23.9.2013

The symphony was crowned by the singing of Christiane Oelze, the subtly dazzling diva with the natural radiance and unbelievable stage presence, who spoke to the audience so directly that they hung spellbound on the movements of her lips.

Heimbach, Festival „Spannungen“, G. Mahler/ Sinfonie Nr. 4, Erwin-Stein-Fassung, Kölner Stadtanzeiger 13.6.2014

… Christiane Oelze has everything it takes to make a great lieder singer: a most beautiful voice, fully developed vocal technique, profound experience and skill in lied interpretation, and charisma. On top of that, she has the ideal accompanist in Eric Schneider.

Liederabend Dachau, SZ 6.12.2004

Soloist Christiane Oelze, a frequent guest at the ‘Bachwochen’ festival, took the joy of singing to new heights. At the zenith of her singing career, she completely overawed us with ‘Non sa che sia dolore’ from the Bach Cantata BMW 209. The way her lush, full-bodied soprano voice blossomed into sensuousness and dramatic force was technically and artistically perfect: Her extensive experience in performing Mozart was reflected in her deeply expressive cantabile and her masterly handling of questions of virtuosity and ornamentation in ‘da capo’ passages in Italian baroque music.

Fränkische Landeszeitung 3.8.2007

This time again, her entrancing spell did not let up for one second. We were wrapped in awe at the beauty of her soprano voice, her technical perfection, the range of her emotional expression.

Philharmonie Köln, W.A. Mozart/Konzertarien, Concerto Köln, Kölner Stadtanzeiger 27.12.2002

Her interpretation has greater depth. Because she takes time for each of these words – the wood, its murmuring and the night. Because she hears and follows closely the lucid essence of Strauss’s composing, which is very calm, very slow but above all: very beautiful. And because Oetze senses this - with intuition and intention.

andhaus Leipzig, Strauss-Lieder, MDR-Orchester, Gilbert Varga, Leipziger Volkszeitung 17.11.2009

For soprano Christiane Oelze the history of Lieder as an art form does not end with the Romantic era or even with Richard Strauss. She began her lieder recital with Schubert’s lively ‘Musensohn’(Son of the Muses) and concluded with the Whisky Bar ‘Alabama Song’ from the Brecht/Weill opera ‘Mahagonny’.

Liederabend Arithmeum, Eric Schneider, Generalanzeiger Bonn, 28.2.2007

But by taking liberties, Mr. Marthaler is able to focus on characterizations, drawing richly retailed and complex portrayasl from the willing singers, like the radiant soprano Christiane Oelze, a heartbreaking countess who sulks around the corridors, drinking too much wine, humiliated by her husband’s betrayals.

Opéra Garnier Paris, W.A. Mozart/ Nozze di Figaro 2008, Sylvain Cambreling, New York Times 22.4.2008

It was captivating the way Soprano Christiane Oelze, who has a special passion for Lieder, brought out the strongly expressive character of the songs, be it as the playful, insulted or disappointed one.

Schlosskirche Bad Homburg, Brahms-Volkslieder, Virgil Mischok, Gerold Huber Bad Homburger Woche, 9.6.2016

The stage presence of the experienced singer, who also expressed herself in lively mimicry and gestures, guaranteed a harmonious performance …

Schlosskirche Bad Homburg, Brahms-Volkslieder, Virgil Mischok, Gerold Huber, FAZ, 7.6.2016

An opera- and concert-singer must be able to approach the gentler art of lieder singing with sufficient delicacy. They must let the poetry hold sway, must create nuances and do so without forfeiting brilliance or breadth of vocal expression. And in her performance in the library of the former monastery at Ochsenhausen Christiane Oelze achieved all this to the full. First by choosing a programme that demanded a wealth of nuances, from wafting tones of impressionistic delicacy to opulent, late-romantic ecstasies of sound. … Great artistry and high standards, principle aims of the music festival ‘Schwäbischen Frühling’, were magnificently displayed in this song recital.

Liederabend Ochsenhausen, Alexander Schmalcz, szon.de Biberach, 29.5.2007

The soprano achieved the feat of bringing not just declamation and broad operatic gestures but also musical imagery into her performance. No concrete associations but pure emotions. Thus in ‚Antik’, where the comely son of the God Pan is invoked, she lets the youthful fantasies of Rimbaud and Britten trickle pleasantly into the ear of the listener.

Konzerthaus Berlin, B. Britten, Illuminations, Marek Janowski/RSO Berlin, Tagesspiegel 21.12.2004

Her light, high, silvery soprano voice and intelligent shaping and phrasing transformed the Lieder into a deeply moving experience. Oelze’s mellifluous and finely intoned voice soared freely up to the highest notes, full of tenderness and restraint, then swelling into full resonance. She masters complex harmonies … She never deviates from the musical line, thus tempering Schreker’s pathos. Oelze’s interpretation of the ‘Wunderhorn’ Lieder is even more captivating. A full, rich sound, never too loud and with a faultless legato …

Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Schreker/Kantate“Vom ewigen Leben“, Lieder aus „Des Knaben Wunderhorn“, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Andrey Boreyko, Hanno Müller-Brachmann, Neue Rhein Zeitung 11.4.2011

The two musicians blend most beautifully, so that that ominous Strauss feeling that his staged works cast over one, steals quickly over listeners to this CD – you cannot escape the draw of his music. Christiane Oelze has the perfect voice for this: expansive in expression, brilliant but never shrill in the higher registers, masterful in the shaping of both long, dying phrases and shorter mellifluous figures.

Strauss-Lieder, Eric Schneider, Solo Musica, Opernwelt August 2013

And here in the 4th movement of Mahler’s 4th symphony the soprano Christiane Oelze achieved most superbly what she had hinted at in Berg’s ‘Lulu Suite’. In Lulu’s Song itself, owing to the confounded acoustics of the Philharmonie, she came across as a mere tonal shade within the eerie hues of the orchestral sound. However, Geschwitz’s parting farewell, which the music-dramatist Berg places most effectively right at the end of the suite, is utter magic – the wasted sadness of forlon beauty portrayed in sound.

Philharmonie München, A. Berg/“Lulu-Suite, Mahler/4. Sinfonie, Münchner Philharmoniker Daniele Gatti, SZ 28.2.2009

Soprano Christiane Oelze presents a stylistic and vocal interpretation that makes you sit up and listen: melting tones, wonderfully differentiated, sensuous vocal lines, noble timbre particularly in the exquisitely beautiful ‘Benedictus’.

CD Beethoven, C-Dur-Messe op. 86, Chor und Orchester des MDR, Fabio Luisi, klassik.com –Rezension 12.6.2006

Christiane Oelze, who has complete control over her clear and malleable voice in every emotional state, sings in an idiomatic yet comprehensible way, is wary of misleading effects and one-sided statements, and thus presents an interpretation of Mélisande that measures up to the greatest singers of this role.

Glyndebourne 1999, Pelléas et Mélisande, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Davis, DVD-Rezension klassik.com 14.9.2005

Anyone who has heard how Oelze glides through the triumphant ending of ‘Um Mitternacht’ (Midnight Song) or illustrates the poet’s isolation in ‘Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen’ (I am lost to the world) with an ever more intensive ‘piano’, will no longer question Mahler’s combining of the tradition of classical-romantic lieder with techniques of symphonic composition, but instead will simply settle down to listen and indulge.

Mahler, Rückert-Lieder, WDR-Sinfonieorchester, Kristjan Järvi, Generalanzeiger Bonn 29.5.2006

In these 24 lieder Christiane Oelze reveals a most personal and sensitive side of herself. She does away with all operatic posturing, concentrating fully on her characteristic tone colors, and the delicacy with which she imbues intimate lieder with warmth and depth of feeling is quite remarkable. She never puts her singing in the forefront, no exaggerated vibrato disturbs us but with the finest delicacy, she breathes life into these musical miniatures. Her first Lied ‘Auch kleine Dinge können uns entzücken’ (Even little things can delight us) also illustrates her approach. Her interpretation of melancholy, pain-filled lieder is never solely an expression of emotion but also of empathy and sympathy. Her portrayal of passionate emotion is permeated with an amazing sensuality.

CD Italienisches Liederbuch, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Rudolf Jansen, klassik.com 31.5.2003

The soloists were a truly wonderful gift: Christiane Oelze never sang with soubrette shallowness but with a deeply felt, almost rapturous quality that gave her arias a reflective dimension.

Prinzregententheater München, J.S. Bach/Weihnachtsoratorium, Chorgemeinschaft Neubeuern, Orchester KlangVerwaltung, Ennoch zu Guttenberg, 26.12.2004

Christiane Oelze’s presentation of the sensitive poetry of Stefan George and Adelbert von Chamisso set to music is utterly convincing – an artistic feat. This interpretation is both moving and fascinating; harrowing, shocking and exhilarating all in one.

Liederabend Insel Hombroich, R. Schumann/Frauenliebe und -Leben, A. Schönberg/Das Buch der Hängenden Gärten, Rudolf Jansen, Neusser Feuilleton, 17.3.2000

With her characteristically light, angel-like voice, Christiane Oelze sang a vulnerable yet willful Ilia, radiating an unbelievable warmth and intimacy in her arias. Oelze’s collaboration with leading players in the early music scene comes through clearly in her vivid interpretation and intelligent phrasing of the recitatives.

Berliner Philharmonie, W.A. Mozart/„Idomeneo“, Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle, klassik.com 15.9.2003

But the most beautiful singing came from Christiane Oelze: the exemplary and most delightful German soprano of international standing. She keeps alive most exquisitely the old tradition of a special German tone quality, which one might have considered dead and gone. In the sweet throat of Frau Oelze it lives on, thankfully, as if under a form of vocal heritage protection.

Philharmonie Berlin, J. Haydn/Die Jahreszeiten, Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle - Berliner Morgenpost 23.3. 2003

Taking its cue from the intense, theatrically acute singing of the soprano Christiane Oelze...

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, J. Haydn/“Scena di Berenice“, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ian Volkov, Daily telegraph 19.10.2004

Christiane Oelze, a completely captivating Susanna.

Glyndebourne, Nozze di Figaro, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Davis, Country Life, 1.6.2000

The real surprise comes in ‘Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen’. Christiane Oelze scintillates, and she must have taken Ludwig Güttler to one side and had a word about tempos, because they are all pretty respectable here. Güttler himself turns in exemplary trumpet solos, but Oelze is the undisputed star. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the central aria ‚Höchster, mache deine Güte’so graciously shaped, and the finale ‚Alleluia’ transcends the clichés usually associated with such dazzling showpieces. All right, I take back what I said at the beginning as long as Güttler books Oelze again.

CD Berlin Classics, Bach-Kantaten mit Ludwig Güttler, Virtuosi Saxoniae, International Record Review, June 2001