Track Listings (17) - Disc #1| All Artists: Erwin (Ervin) Schulhoff, Dmitry Shostakovich, Paul Edmund-Davies, Malcolm Martineau, Christoph Henschel Title: Songs: Magdalena Kozena Members Wishing: 0 Total Copies: 0 Label: Dg Imports Release Date: 7/13/2004 Album Type: Import Genres: Special Interest, Pop, Classical Styles: Vocal Pop, Opera & Classical Vocal Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC: 028947158127 |
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Search - Erwin (Ervin) Schulhoff, Dmitry Shostakovich, Paul Edmund-Davies :: Songs: Magdalena Kozena
 | Erwin (Ervin) Schulhoff, Dmitry Shostakovich, Paul Edmund-Davies Songs: Magdalena Kozena Genres: Special Interest, Pop, Classical
By now, fans of this mezzo probably have realized that she could sing the telephone directory and make it sound both beautiful and meaningful. This CD is made up of music by Respighi, Ravel, Britten, Schulhoff and Shostako... more » |
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Amazon.com By now, fans of this mezzo probably have realized that she could sing the telephone directory and make it sound both beautiful and meaningful. This CD is made up of music by Respighi, Ravel, Britten, Schulhoff and Shostakovich: in other words, songs in five languages from five countries. Unlike most song recital CDs, variety is also supplied by the accompaniments. The Ravel songs are backed up by flute, cello and piano, while the Schulhoff selections feature violin and piano, the Shostakovich and Britten are for piano alone, and the Respighi includes a string quartet. The whole CD is fascinating, but the lengthy Respighi cantata "Il tramonto" ("The Sunset," to a poem by Shelly) is a sensational centerpiece: just lovely, with hints of Straussian and Wagnerian harmonies. The Ravel songs are by turns gentle, wild/angry and then gentle again, the Shostakovich ones are witty satires, the Schulhoff songs are moody, and the Britten, rarely recorded, is strangely evocative. Kozena and the instrumentalists are ideal. --Robert Levine Similarly Requested CDs
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CD ReviewsAn ideal voice Thomas More | Billings, MT USA | 09/15/2004 (5 out of 5 stars) "The first reviewer's rating does not do justice to Ms.Kozena's latest release. He claims that she's taken on some sort of quest for perfectly articulated singing, which I simply do not believe is the case. The true question is does her practically perfect articulation in any way interfere in our enjoyment of the music? The answer - definitely not! It's a set of wonderful performances from beginning to end. Kozena has the sort of voice on disc (and much credit should be given to the recording engineers for this as well) that one can listen to repeatedly without it grating or wearing on us. My personal favorite is the Resphigi, which DG rightly allowed Gramophone Magazine to have on its sampler disc a few months back. MK is undoubtably one of DG's premiere artists at the moment, and rightly so. Every label needs its Joshua Bells, Yo Yo Mas and Andrea Bocellis in order to make ends meet and afford to finance the special projects that don't get all the attention. We should be thankful to have in MK an artist who is not only bankable, but creates beautiful work for us to enjoy. This is one of the best classical vocal recordings of the year!" Listen to the music Music Lover | USA | 08/01/2004 (5 out of 5 stars) "The first review published for this collection was written by a pretentious blow-hard who has no respect for or understanding of the extraordinarily difficult undertaking of performing vocal music in the art music tradition, much less interpreting in languages other than one's own. Unless they denigrate the excellence of the music itself (or the interpeters who collaborated on the recording), nobody like this should dare question the remarks of any vocal artist as accomplished as this one, at least not in such a disrespectful tone. When all is said and done, both the recording and the pieces performed in it are excellent in quality. That is the only basis to award a rating, as I have done." A Recital par excellence Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 05/10/2005 (5 out of 5 stars) "Magdalena Kozená is a formidable artist. Not only is she beautiful of voice and figure, she possesses an intelligence for programming and skill with varied musical styles and languages that places her in a category all her own. By electing to present a repertoire of twentieth century songs as far ranging as these by Ravel, Britten, Resphigi, Shostakovich and Schulhoff
she ably demonstrates that she has the vocal skills and sensitivity to make each of these composers' lesser known works convincing. Kozená vocal lustre is warm and pliable and she is able to ascend the scale with ease and without the too often heard breaks in register. She also chooses her collaborators well, from piano alone to individual instruments to string quartet ensemble: with each she is at one in interpretation and spirit. Rarely have Britten's 'Charm of Lullabies' felt so effortless. And with the same ease she finds the right 'French' sound for the Ravel and the biting crispness for the Shostakovich. Yet as fine s are all of the segments of this CD are, the highlight is the relatively unknown Ottorino Resphigi 'Il tramonto' with the glowing realization of 'The Sunset' that Kozená offers. We are fortunate to be living in an age where the mezzo soprano artists are abundant (Susan Graham, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Sarah Connolly, Anne Sophie von Otter, to name but a few). Coupled with the rise in popularity of countertenors we are afforded more opportunities than ever to hear new repertoire for a particular timbre of voice than ever before. Magdalena Kozená is a worthy member of this elite group of artists. Highly recommendeded. Grady Harp, May 05" |
