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Magdalena Kozena

Monteverdi

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OFF CLASSIQUE - Magdalena Kozena interview
Magdalena Kozena - Let's Misbehave (Live) | Ondrej Havelka & His Melody Makers
1 Monteverdi: Zefiro torna, e di soavi accenti  
2 Monteverdi: Lamento della ninfa  
3 Monteverdi: Quel sguardo sdegnosetto  
4 Uccellini: Aria quinta sopra la Bergamasca  
5 Monteverdi: Disprezzata Regina! (L'incoronazione di Poppea)  
6 Monteverdi: Con che soavita  
7 Merula: Ballo detto Pollicio  
8 Monteverdi: Addio, Roma! (L'incoronazione di Poppea)  
9 Monteverdi: Damigella tutta bella  
10 Marini: Passacalio a quattro  
11 Monteverdi: Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda  
12 Monteverdi: Pur ti miro (L'incoronazione di Poppea)  
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In 2000 Magdalena Kozená took over from an ailing colleague as Nero in the Vienna Festival production of L'incoronazione di Poppea, yet a deeper connection to Monteverdi and his music can be traced to a far earlier date, as the singer herself recalls: "I was sixteen when I met a lutenist with whom I formed an ensemble for Baroque and Renaissance music. It was a very important experience for me, for not only did I learn the Italian language through these pieces, but I discovered a great deal about the style of the music of this period and about the way in which it is ornamented."

Since then Magdalena Kozená has explored the world of opera and only has she sung Mozart, she has appeared in productions of Carmen, Pelléas et Mélisande and Der Rosenkavalier. "So it's more of a romantic repertory," the singer explains. "But this doesn't mean that I have banished Monteverdi from my life. I return to him again and again and I feel at home with him." In short, the present recording marks the singer's return to her original repertory. She is accompanied by Andrea Marcon, with whom she has already recorded Vivaldi and Handel recitals. The album will be released on February 19, 2016.

For Magdalena Kozená this artistic partnership represents a great gain: "Andrea has a lot of experience in this repertory, and he is also a very spontaneous sort of person: his music-making is always highly charged and full of surprises. Of course we rehearse before a concert or in advance of a recording and agree on the basic interpretation. But we know each other so well that we can then allow ourselves the freedom to improvise."

  • Beauty and elegance in Magdalena Kozena - Mitsuko Uchida French programme at London's Wigmore Hall / The Guardian
    Posted At: October 10, 2023
    Mitsuko Uchida is a performer who brings deep insight into the music she plays through her own search for truth and beauty. She is renowned for her interpretations of Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven, both in the concert hall and on recordings, but she has also illuminated the music of Berg, Schoenberg, Webern and Boulez for a new generation of listeners.Uchida performs throughout the world with many differen...

  • Debussy - Pelleas et Melisande with Magdalena Kozena gets BBCRadio3:Record Review
    Posted At: October 11, 2017

    Magdalena Kozena plays (Melisande), in DEBUSSY: Pelleas et Melisande. It was reviewed on Radio 3's Record Review on Saturday morning. Record Review is on BBC Radio 3 (90-92 FM and Digital Radio) every Saturday 0900-1215 and is presented by Andrew McGregor. As well as the Building a Library feature (which looks at recordings of a specific work), the programme reviews a wide range of new releases w...

  • Magdalena Kozena Endowment Fund promotes children and their teachers in Czech Republic / Radio Prague
    Posted At: June 21, 2017

    The Czech Republic boasts a unique network of art schools focused on music, ballet, drama and visual arts. The institutions, which are quite generously subsidized by the state, are open to kids from the age of five. Just recently, a nationwide project promoting the so-called "zušky" took place around the country, giving the children and their teachers a rare opportunity to show their skills to the...

  • Czech mezzo - Magdalena Kozena nominated for Grammy Award / Radio Praha interview
    Posted At: December 14, 2016

    The world-renowned Czech mezzo soprano Magdalena Ko?ená has been nominated for this year's Grammy Awards, along with such stars as Beyonce or Rihanna. Ko?ená received the nomination in the Best Classical Vocal Album category for her album of works by Claudio Monteverdi, which was released this spring under the label Deutsche Grammophon. The Grammy-nominated album, simply entitled Monteverdi...

  • Barbican, London - Magdalena Kozena sings Vivaldi's 'Juditha triumphans' with beauty and poise / Financial Times
    Posted At: November 8, 2016

    The abandoned girls who lived at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice in the early 1700s were renowned. Musical training at the orphanage was of the highest standard and their public concerts were attended by many luminaries, even though the girls performed behind metal grilles. The authorities did not want men in the audience getting too excited. Vivaldi was among the composers who held positions t...

  • Brahms: Lieder & Liebeslieder Waltzes - LIVE from the Verbier Festival / Washington Post review
    Posted At: October 23, 2016

    James Levine, the recently retired music director of the Metropolitan Opera, is one of the few conductors whose piano playing is on a par with his baton technique. In this new release of an all-Brahms concert, recorded live at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland in 2003, Levine presides from the piano. His collaborators are an internationally recognized quartet of singers, or were 13 years ago, including...

  • Magdalena Kozena opens 'Union College Concert Series' 45th season / Albany Times Union
    Posted At: October 9, 2016

    A diverse and thoughtful program by mezzo-soprano Magdalena Ko?ená and pianist Malcom Martineau opened the Union College Concert Series' 45th season on Sunday afternoon. Known primarily for presenting string quartets and pianists, the series has a new concentration on singers, with a vocal recitals accounting for a quarter of the sixteen concerts that run through late April 2017. Ko?ená sho...

  • Magdalena Kozena embarks on Cole Porter tour / theguardian
    Posted At: July 12, 2016

    In an interview published last year, Magdalena Ko?ená described listening to Cole Porter's songs as one of her "musical guilty pleasures". The Czech mezzo has, however, now embarked on a European tour with a Cole Porter programme of her own in the company of Ondřej Havelka and his Melody Makers, a Prague-based big band specialising in music of the 1920s and 30s. Though her two London concerts...

  • Magdalena Kozena - Monteverdi / WFMT: Featured Releases
    Posted At: March 6, 2016

    Magdalena Ko?ená returns with another early music adventure after her highly acclaimed Vivaldi album. Now she explores the early Italian Baroque music of Claudio Monteverdi with rewarding results. Inspired by the improvisational nature of much of this music, Ko?ená reveals yet another aspect of her musical personality with selections from L'incoronazione di Poppea, Combattimento di Tancredi...

  • Magdalena Kozenza establishes endowment supporting Czech Republic's art schools / Radio Prague
    Posted At: March 3, 2016

    The internationally renowned Czech opera singer Magdalena Kozená has established an endowment fund to support the Czech Republic's unique system of art schools, focused on music, ballet, drama and visual arts. The fund was officially presented at a donor evening at Prague's Rudolfinum on Friday. I asked David Mareček, the Managing Director of the Czech Philharmonic, which is a co-patr...
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