„… the evening begins with perhaps the most well-known of all “summertime” melodies, the famous Nuits d’été by Berlioz, the first two songs of which she interprets, “Villanelle” and “Le Specter de la rose”, before interspersing them with German lieder, the word Sommer of which appears in the title, to finish by “Sur les lagunes” and “L’Ileconnue”, two others of the six melodies of the Berliozian cycle, which here conclude the first part of the concert. In impeccable French, without the slightest hint of a Germanic accent, this singer, whom we did not know, acts as a revelation: at ease in all registers, she knows how to put her very homogeneous voice, with a beautiful round and dark timbre to the times, at the service of expression, fine and sensitive, accompanied by very beautiful musical intentions, between shadows and lights as the climates follow one another. And in its own language, that of Goethe, through Brahms’ Sommerabend, Berg’s Sommertage, or even Alma Mahler’s Laue Sommernacht, the text stands out with even more precision, for an impeccable implication, and in addition to a magnificent mezzo part, she displays there, for our greatest happiness, the dark colors of her bass part, when nostalgia and languor prevail over all the rest.

And in a second part, after French and German, it is with the same ease and success that she expresses herself in the languages of Cervantes then Shakespeare, first with the rare Cinq Chansons nègres (1945) by Montsalvatge (1912-2002), this cycle by the Catalan composer who wanted to pay homage to the island of Cuba and to the Afro-Cuban rhythms from which many emigrants had landed on the Catalan coasts at the end of the 19th century. We can count on the explosive temperament of the mezzo and on her skin-deep sensuality to put a spell on these pieces as rare as they are bewitching, and which in any case have a great effect on the Portuguese-speaking public who give it a warm welcome. at the end of the collection. And it is with four songs by Gershwin that the evening ends, the famous The man I love or Summertime, here also delivered with a lot of sensuality and charm, and by interpreting these “hits” in a violently syncopated way, which allows it’s up to the artist to hold on to you, never to let go, from the very first bars. But we prefer the rarest Vodka, which Deniz Uzun sings while looking totally drunk, with devastating humor and self- mockery, emphasizing the word “vodka” which she pronounces each time with a strong Russian accent, doubling the comic effect of this air, for which she comes out of her reserve to gratify us with all her talents as an actress. As a result, it is on an opera stage that we dream of hearing her now, as she was flying the next day to Budapest and its Wagner festival, where she will perform the role Waltraute in Gätterdämmerung.”