"...many of us still like the intimacy
of listening to a singer with stories to tell, and nothing but
a guitar to fill the spaces between the words. ... The song
titles are listed in English, but are sung in Russian in a
fragile voice, mostly low-key and sombre... I like her voice
the hints of dry humor... I look forward to what happens
next"
The Russian Songbird, by Katherine
Heinrich
“The folk singer's distinctive sets
have been capturing attention throughout the area. Vorontsova
has performed at clubs in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New Jersey.
She was also profiled in Time Out New York.”
“spins these tales of a specific
insularity and sorrow as old as ages, with a beguiling
simplicity and eloquence that bears up well to repeated
listenings, and feel far older and wiser that her rather recent
vintage. Reminds me just a bit of Brigitte Fontaine, but is
more sorrowful than she could ever be”
“Moody folk pop in a voice that's
deep and experimental-think Nico and Brigitte Fontaine-in her
native tongue. “
“Vorontsova's melodies and playing
get under the skin, cutting to the bone and surpassing any
obvious surface appeal as she dives headfirst into the morass
of the human soul.”
“Among
her musical predecessors are poets Bulat Okudjava, Yury Visbor,
Vladimir Visotsky, Veronica Dolina, and other Russian bards,
who have looked in the past four decades over the necks of
their guitars for the emotional emancipation of romantic poetry
through the auxiliary means of songwriting. With very few
exceptions they found that simple melodies, intended for roles
subservient to verse, took over and diminished their poetic
promises to song lyrics.”
“Unlike her predecessors Julia
Vorontsova remains a serious poet. Her lack of compromise in
poetry, as the point of departure from the tradition of bards,
is extended to her music. Ironically, an English-speaking
audience, captivated by Julia’s voice, is unaware of the
subordinate position that she offers to music in her native
tongue.”
“Julia Vorontsova, with her riveting
Russian language songs and from a purer time and place stage
presence, took those in the audience to the greatest
destinations of all, that of music that we've always been in
love with, but just hadn't known it existed.”
“Telling stories in the most adorable
no-so-broken English and painting accompanying pictures and
fleshing them out in song, she is easily one of the most
charming singer/songwriters I've seen, and will most certainly
be carding out a niche for herself”
“Vorontsova sings in a heavy,
world-weary whisper; it's intimate, aching, intoxicating as
brandy, and twice as addictive.”
“Julia's production reminds me of
that of the Nick Drake's outtakes that became Time Of No Reply,
and Vorontsova communicates some of that same austerity -- that
same disturbing calm.”
“Turns out she is 21 years old, and
from St Petersburg. At the age of 17 her parents emigrated to
Portugal, and she decided to herself move to NY, eventually
settling in Jersey City. A poet from a young age, she had
rephrased her material into songs in her teens and started
performing”
All the songs were in Russian, but the
self-effacing Julia presaged them with explanations of just how
they came about. Her voice and phrasing, though distinctly
Russian, evoked breathy 60's french chanteuses. “
“ Julia is one of those few voices
that speak immediately to the heart”
“Vorontsova follows the classic
girl'n'guitar folk model, but the roots of this music are much
deeper: Vorontsova is a poet who performs her work with voice
and guitar, it explains the beautiful depth of Vorontsova's
expression, and the timeless quality of her music.”
“There's a heartbreaking melancholy
to her songs and an ethereality that keeps things buoyant. At
twenty-one years old, she is the proverbial old soul, with a
voice and mood that gets under the listener's skin.”
“Like Joni Mitchell's Blue, From St.
Petersburg with Love creates and sustains a soulful, melancholy
mood, while at the same time maintaining a bright pop center.
And like Blue, a few songs throw in something a little
different, varying the mood rather than breaking it. "Rock
n Roll" has an uptempo, rockabilly feel, "For My
Joy" is accompanied by a jaw harp, and "One
Kitten" includes purring and meowing while contemplating
the question, "Where's paradise for little kitties? Where
is it?"”
“This is a special cd for those who
appreciate quiet beauty and crystal-clear talent, it's just
perfect”
— Top Live show pick by Jay
Ruttenberg
“Onstage, she resembles a strangely
dour singing doll, pausing between numbers to explain her
lyrics: Often, they draw upon cities where she once lived -
memories of a St.Petersburg horseshoe or a Warsaw streetcar. It
is impossible for those unversed in Russian to understand her
words, but Vorontsova's grim murmur and guitar place her in a
handsome expat tradition, recalling the past while singing to
the future.”
