Catriona Morison - The dark night has vanished - The Scotsman

With songs by the 19th century German composer and Mendelssohn protégé Josephine Lang, the Scots mezzo soprano has given her solo recording debut a unique point of interest. There are also songs by Grieg, Brahms and Schumann, which are testament to the rich mezzo timbre that distinguishes Morison’s maturing voice and interpretational artistry. In tandem with the instinctive collaboration of pianist and fellow Scot, Malcolm Martineau, she journeys from the fresh complexions of Grieg’s Sechs Lieder Op 48, through a lavish miscellany of Brahms to the ruminative colourations of Schumann’s Op 90 songs. It’s with the latter two composers that Morison best finds natural vent for her fullest expressive powers. But in Lang’s songs too, crafty and mainstream and lit with daringly personal harmonic adventures, she captures the essential spirit of a woman who battled personal difficulties – the early death of her husband – to succeed in what was predominantly a man’s world.