Magdalena Kozená - Le belle immagini (Mozart, Gluck, Myslivecek)

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Mozart and Gluck may make natural bedfellows for a program of arias, but Josef Myslivecek is not a name that would jump to most minds to join them. Czech mezzo Magdalena Kozená may be about to change that. In his time (1737-1781), the Czech composer was up there with the greats after his studies in Italy. He couldn't have a more persuasive champion than Kozená, who sets out to show why Myslivecek was counted among the country's 10 most successful composers. The young Kozená's mantelpiece is already crowded with competition trophies, including a 2001 Gramophone Award for her CD of eastern European love songs with Graham Johnson. Her voice is one to cherish. Her repertoire on this disc is not just a patriotic Czech waving the flag for her fellow countryman. Try any one of the four Myslivecek arias on this disc, and it is clear that he can easily hold his head high among this exalted company. This is a stimulating recital disc to play again and again. It is also a bouquet for the young players of the Prague Philharmonia under Michel Swierczewski. --Keith Clarke

Tracks:

Mozart: La Clemnza di Tito: Atto I, Scene 8: N. 9 Aria
Gluck: Paride ed Elena: Atto II, Scena 3: Aria
Myslivecek: Abramo ed Isacco: Atto II, Scena 2: N. 8 Recitativo ed Aria
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro: Atto II, Scena 3: N. 12 Arietta
Myslivecek: Atto II, Scena 13: Aria
Mozart: Idomeneo: Atto I, Scena 10: Recitativo
Gluck: Paride ed Elena: Atto I, Scena 1: Aria
Mozart: Lucio Silla: Atto I, Scena 2 Recitativo
Mozart: La finta giardiniera: Atto III, Scena 6: No. 26 Aria
Myslivecek: L'Olimpiade: Atto I, Scena 7: Recitativo ed Aria
Gluck: La clemenza di Tito: Atto II: Aria
Myslivecek: L'Olimpiade: Atto II, Scena 3: Aria
Mozart: La clemenza di Tito: Atto II, Scena 9: No. 19 Rondo

Amazon.com

Mozart and Gluck may make natural bedfellows for a program of arias, but Josef Myslivecek is not a name that would jump to most minds to join them. Czech mezzo Magdalena Kozená may be about to change that. In his time (1737-1781), the Czech composer was up there with the greats after his studies in Italy. He couldn't have a more persuasive champion than Kozená, who sets out to show why Myslivecek was counted among the country's 10 most successful composers. The young Kozená's mantelpiece is already crowded with competition trophies, including a 2001 Gramophone Award for her CD of eastern European love songs with Graham Johnson. Her voice is one to cherish. Her repertoire on this disc is not just a patriotic Czech waving the flag for her fellow countryman. Try any one of the four Myslivecek arias on this disc, and it is clear that he can easily hold his head high among this exalted company. This is a stimulating recital disc to play again and again. It is also a bouquet for the young players of the Prague Philharmonia under Michel Swierczewski. --Keith Clarke

Customer Reviews:

Kozêna, una cantante en alza.......2004-03-27

En este recital, Magdalena Kozêna (una de las cantantes mas de moda de los ultimos años) repasa las principales paginas para mezzo de las óperas de Mozart, Gluck, y su compatriota, el checo Myslivecek.
Nadie va a descubir ahora los talentos de Mozart y Gluck para la composicion de operas, pero si cabe apuntar la excelente calidad de las arias aqui incluidas del casi desconocido Myslivecek, y por tanto, hay que agradecer a quien se haya atrevido a incluirle junto a los dos grandes por autonomasia.
La voz de la mezzosoprano Magdalena Kozêna, casi sopranil, con agudos bellos y generosos, aunque no exenta de graves, se adapta a la perfeccion a todas estas paginas, a las que agrega unas variaciones de gran riqueza en todos los da capos. Quiza Kozêna sea actualmente la mejor cantante para afrontar este repertorio, tras el cambio a la cuerda sopranil de Cecilia Bartoli.
Redondea el disco una orquesta sutil y muy correcta bajo una direccion atenta y experimentada, asi como un sonido de primera calidad. Un disco que merece la pena escuchar.

A Beautiful CD!!-Magdalena Kozena sings like an angel!!.......2003-12-12

I purchased this CD a year ago from Streetside Records.
This CD is unbelievably amazing!! Magdalena Kozena is the most beautiful Czech mezzo-soprano in the world. Her voice is very lovely and she sings like an angel!! The fifth selection from this CD is one of my favorites!! It reminds me of Mozart. You should get this CD very soon, if you are a Kozena fan, just like myself. It's the best!!

Beutiful singing.......2002-04-13

This is a must have disc because of Magdalena Kozenás beutiful calm but strong voice. She must be a passionate girl with that kind of singing... lots of emotions but not theatralic by no way as some other more famous mezzo sopranos/sopranos often sing... a bit hysterical/theatralic.

This is an upcoming superstar with a little more practise and one or two more (routine) years (she is only 28-29) and its a disc you put on for pure enjoy and pleasure on and on.

Bartoli my be first choice for many about Gluck and Mozart but Magdalena has something else that you sholdnt miss.

I dont go in here about all numbers choosen and so and so but..

... this girl is going to be a (more) celebrated singer and I would be happy if she comes back to Drottningholm,Stockholm,Sweden again.

Sound is excellent and conducting too. Maybe its a bit too fast here and there and its not Wienna, Berliner and so on but this orchestra gives a more than good support to Magsalena.

Give this girl a chance and listen to her strong AND at the same time very soft voice that is very special and beutiful.

A MUST disc.

Much to enjoy with an eye to the future.......2002-04-07

Magdalena Kozena first attracted attention in a CD of Bach arias (which DG has not released in the US), followed by a critically acclaimed disc of Czech art songs and a recording of Italian cantatas by Handel. Her first solo operatic disc, like that of many of her contemporaries, is dedicated to the lyric mezzo roles of Mozart and Gluck. Kozena brings to this mix Josef Myslivecek, a Czech composer who seems to have fallen into the great 18th-century musicological chasm (i.e. not Mozart, not Haydn), despite compositional success on the operatic scenes of both Italy and Portugal, as well as a working relationship with the young Mozart (the oratorio selection from Abramo ed Isacco was once attributed to the young Mozart). Throughout Ms. Kozena brings to the music an instrument infused with alternatively mecurial and plaintive tonal qualities, youthful vitality and expressive spontaneity, coupled with emotional commitment, eloquent musicianship, and a vocal personality well suited to the requirements of 18th-century opera seria.

A charming and extremely well-sung recital.......2002-02-07

After winning much plaudits (as well as a Gramophone award) for her excellent recital of Czech songs, the young and beautiful mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena has managed to surpass herself with her latest release, "Le belle immagini", which contains 13 tracks of operatic arias by Mozart, Gluck and Myslivecek, a Czech composer of opera seria who was much admired by Mozart.

Kozena is described as a mezzo-soprano, although her timbre is distinctly sopranoish and her top register is radiant and free. Her voice is intrinsically very beautiful and it is basked in a sort of healthy glow (which is here enhanced by the clear and warm recorded sound). Her way of vocal production is unforced and free of contrived effects. Blessed with an excellent coloratura facility, her singing of the florid passages is long-breathed, liquid and wonderfully smooth (no aspirates) and she's able to bind the ornaments firmly into the vocal line. She's also very sensitive in her handling of recitatives (very important in this repertoire) and her embellishments (such as those in "Se mai senti spirarti sul volto") are always tasteful. Above all, she is very musical and her performances are vocally stylish and emotionally true and she receives wonderful and spirited support from the Prague Philharmonia under the direction of Michel Swierczewski.

By singing this kind of music, Kozena is now in direct competition with Cecilia Bartoli. While the Czech singer may not bring a similar degree of vibrancy and tension into the music, and that there's room for improvement in her Italian enunciation, hers is a more natural, sensuous and tonally ingratiating kind of performance, which I find no less involving.

This is a fascinating album which vocal lovers can't afford to miss. I'd urge everyone not to overlook this excellent and well-planned new release from DG. Those Myslivecek items, though unfamiliar to most people, are not mere curiosities as they are the work of a composer who, from this evidence, did seem to possess much musical and dramatic gift.

Do give it a try, and be prepared to be bewitched!

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