Magdalena Kožená explores the early Italian Baroque music of Monteverdi and his contemporaries with rewarding results. Inspired by the improvisational nature of much of this music, Kožená reveals yet another aspect of her musical personality.
Teamed with the six string-instrumentalists and percussion of the acclaimed consort group Private Musicke, Magdalena Kožená delivers an album in a fascinatingly different setting from any of her previous Baroque recordings.
In music ranging from simple lamento to rollicking dance tunes, Magdalena Kožená unleashes her refined vocal and expressive abilities to convey every nuance implicit in the music and the texts.
“The Czech mezzo . . . produces one of the loveliest sounds to be heard on the world’s stages – a flowing, spring-water-like tone that evokes the term ‘luminous’.” (Opera News)
O bei lumi (Musiche a una e due voci, Libro secondo, 1618)
Cruda Amarilli (Primo libro di musiche da cantar solo, 1609)
Sì dolce è il tormento (Quarto scherzo delle ariose vaghezze, 1624)
Odi, Euterpe, 'l dolce canto (Le nuove musiche, 1601/02)
Caravanda Ciacona
Canzonetta spirituale sopra alla nanna: Hor ch'è tempo di dormire (Curtio precipitato et altri capricii, Libro secondo, 1638)
Canarios (Instrucción de música sobre la guitarra espanola, 1674)
Ma ché? Squallido e oscuro (Primo libro di musiche da cantar solo, 1609)
Con le stelle in ciel (Scherzi e canzonette op. 5, 1622)
Felici gl'animi (Libro quarto di villanelle, 1623)
Capriccio stravagante
Aurilla mia, quando m'accese (Libro secondo di villanelle, 1619)
Torna il sereno Zefiro (Quinto libro di musiche da cantar solo, 1623)
Ciacona (Primo libro di musiche da cantar solo, 1609)
L'Eraclito amoroso: Udite amanti (Cantate, aruette e duetti op.2, 1651)
Espagnoletta (Luz y norte musical para caminar, 1677)
Folle è ben chi si crede (Curtio precipitato et altri capriccii, Libro secondo, 1638)
November 2010
*****
“She soars the heights and plumbs the depths with fitting ardour...it is hard not to be swept away by such intensity felt and highly dramatic readings...[Pitzl] and his crack instrumental ensemble enrich the spare simplicity of the written scores with endlessly varied and inventive realisations...These are vibrant, virtuoso performances, never slacking in their spontaneity and energy.”
Awards Issue 2010
“Her voice...is as mellifluous and pliable as ever, light and translucent in the upper reaches while brooding and dark in the lower ones...[Private Musicke] provides an imaginative and inventive accompaniment.”
December 2010
“If you agree that all interpretation is improvisation...then Kožená's thoroughly dramatic approach to the texts, enhanced by tasteful ornamentation, displays just as much freedom and ingenuity...In short, this is an exceptional release, the beauty and flexibility of Kožená's voice perfectly complemented by Private Musicke's intimate yet colourfully extrovert accompaniments.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
O bei lumi (Musiche a una e due voci, Libro secondo, 1618)
