Magdalena Kožená
Encyclopedia
Magdalena Kožená (ˈmagdalɛna ˈkoʒɛnaː) (born 26 May 1973) is a Czech
mezzo-soprano
.
In 2003, Kožená was awarded the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
by the French Government. She was formerly married to the French baritone Vincent le Texier, and is now married to Sir Simon Rattle
, with whom she has two children.
, the daughter of a mathematician father and a biologist mother. Her original goal was to be a pianist, but she broke her hand at the age of six and switched to singing, starting in the Brno Philharmonic
children's choir. She studied at the Brno Conservatoire and at the College of Performing Arts in Bratislava
, and graduated in 1995. In 1995, she was a prize winner at the International Mozart Competition. From 1996–97, she was a member of the Vienna Volksoper
.
arias, recorded in the Czech Republic. Upon hearing the recording, Deutsche Grammophon
(DG) signed her to a recording contract. Later recordings include Handel
’s Roman Motets and Italian Cantatas and Messiah
with Marc Minkowski
for DG/Archiv, and her first solo recital disc (Dvořák
, Janáček
and Martinů
with Graham Johnson – Gramophone Solo Vocal Award, 2001) for Deutsche Grammophon
. Further recordings include recitals of arias of Mozart
, Gluck
and Mysliveček
(with the Prague Philharmonia
and Michel Swierczewski), of French arias with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra
and Minkowski, Gluck’s Paride ed Elena
under Paul McCreesh
, a recital disc with Malcolm Martineau
and an acclaimed disc of cantatas by members of the Bach family
(“Lamento”) with Musica Antiqua Köln
and Reinhard Goebel
. She is the 2004 Gramophone Awards Artist of the Year. Among her latest recordings are a disc with opera arias of Handel and one with opera arias by Antonio Vivaldi
, both with the Venice Baroque Orchestra conducted by Andrea Marcon
and released on DG/Archiv.
Spring and at the Concentus Moraviae
Festivals. She has given recitals in London, the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Brussels, Paris, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Munich, Prague, Tokyo, Yokohama and Sapporo, Carnegie Hall
, in San Francisco and in London, Brussels, Lisbon, Vienna, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Hamburg and Prague.
Her operatic engagements have included several notable debuts: at the Châtelet
, Paris in the title role in Gluck's Orphée
with John Eliot Gardiner
; at the Vienna Festival as Nerone (“L'incoronazione di Poppea
”) with Minkowski; at the Edinburgh Festival
(Sesto in La clemenza di Tito
); at the Leipzig Opera (Mélisande with Minkowski); at the Aix-en-Provence Festival
as Cherubino; at the Netherlands Opera as Sesto (“Giulio Cesare
”) and at the Salzburg Festival
as Zerlina under Harnoncourt
. She sang the centenary performance of Pelléas et Mélisande
at the Opera Comique
, Paris under Minkowski and most recently Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare under Minkowski.
Recent engagements include the roles of Idamante at the Glyndebourne and Salzburg Festivals, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro for both the Bavarian State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, Dorabella in Mozarts Cosi fan tutte
(Salzburg Easter Festival and in Berlin) and her return to the Metropolitan Opera as Varvara (Katja Kabanova) and Dorabella. She sings Zerlina with the Metropolitan Opera in Japan, returns to the Salzburg Festival for Idamante and to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées
for Melisande.
. In March 2005, she gave birth to their son, Jonas. In 2008 the couple had another son named Milos.
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
.
In 2003, Kožená was awarded the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
by the French Government. She was formerly married to the French baritone Vincent le Texier, and is now married to Sir Simon Rattle
Simon Rattle
Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic ....
, with whom she has two children.
Biography
Kožená was born in BrnoBrno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
, the daughter of a mathematician father and a biologist mother. Her original goal was to be a pianist, but she broke her hand at the age of six and switched to singing, starting in the Brno Philharmonic
Brno Philharmonic Orchestra
Brno Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Brno, the Czech Republic. Its predecessor was the Czech Symphony Orchestra, dating from the 1870's. The current Brno Philharmonic was formed in 1956 with the merger of the Radio Orchestra and the Brno Region Symphony Orchestra, with Břetislav...
children's choir. She studied at the Brno Conservatoire and at the College of Performing Arts in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, and graduated in 1995. In 1995, she was a prize winner at the International Mozart Competition. From 1996–97, she was a member of the Vienna Volksoper
Vienna Volksoper
The Vienna Volksoper is a major opera house in Vienna, Austria. It gives about three hundred performances of twenty-five productions during an annual season running from September through June....
.
Recordings
Kožená's first recording was of BachJohann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
arias, recorded in the Czech Republic. Upon hearing the recording, Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
(DG) signed her to a recording contract. Later recordings include Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
’s Roman Motets and Italian Cantatas and Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
with Marc Minkowski
Marc Minkowski
Marc Minkowski is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works. His mother is American, and his father was Alexandre Minkowski, a Polish-French professor of pediatrics and one of the founders of neonatology...
for DG/Archiv, and her first solo recital disc (Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
and Martinů
Bohuslav Martinu
Bohuslav Martinů was a prolific Czech composer of modern classical music. He was of Czech and Rumanian ancestry. Martinů wrote six symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. Martinů became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic...
with Graham Johnson – Gramophone Solo Vocal Award, 2001) for Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
. Further recordings include recitals of arias of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
and Mysliveček
Josef Myslivecek
Josef Mysliveček was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music...
(with the Prague Philharmonia
Prague Philharmonia
The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra was established in 1995 by Czech musicians with the German conductor Friedemann Riehle. The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra quickly developed into one of the leading orchestras for CD-recording in Europe. The orchestra plays about 200 recording sessions every year...
and Michel Swierczewski), of French arias with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
The Mahler Chamber Orchestra is a professional touring chamber orchestra founded by Claudio Abbado and former members of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in 1997....
and Minkowski, Gluck’s Paride ed Elena
Paride ed Elena
Paride ed Elena is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the third and final of his Italian reformist works, following Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste. Like its predecessors, its libretto was written by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. The opera tells the story of the events between the Judgment of Paris and...
under Paul McCreesh
Paul McCreesh
Paul McCreesh is an English conductor.Paul McCreesh is founder and artistic director of the Gabrieli Consort & Players, with whom he has established himself at the highest level in the period instrument field; he is recognised for his authoritative and innovative performances on the concert...
, a recital disc with Malcolm Martineau
Malcolm Martineau
Malcolm Martineau is a Scottish pianist.- Biography :Born in Edinburgh, and educated at George Watson's College, Malcolm Martineau read Music at St Catharine's College, Cambridge...
and an acclaimed disc of cantatas by members of the Bach family
Bach family
The Bach family was of importance in the history of music for nearly two hundred years, with over 50 known musicians and several notable composers, the best-known of whom was Johann Sebastian Bach...
(“Lamento”) with Musica Antiqua Köln
Musica Antiqua Köln
Musica Antiqua Köln was an early music group that was founded in 1973 by Reinhard Goebel and fellow students from the Conservatory of Music in Cologne. Musica Antiqua Köln devoted itself largely to the performance of the music of the 17th and 18th centuries...
and Reinhard Goebel
Reinhard Goebel
Reinhard Goebel is a German conductor and violinist specialising in early music on authentic instruments. Goebel received his first violin lessons at the age of twelve...
. She is the 2004 Gramophone Awards Artist of the Year. Among her latest recordings are a disc with opera arias of Handel and one with opera arias by Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
, both with the Venice Baroque Orchestra conducted by Andrea Marcon
Andrea Marcon
Andrea Marcon is an Italian conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and scholar. In 1997, he founded the Venice Baroque Orchestra.-Recordings:*Vivaldi and others: Andromeda liberata...
and released on DG/Archiv.
Concerts and recitals
Kožená appears regularly at the PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
Spring and at the Concentus Moraviae
Concentus Moraviae
Concentus Moraviae is an international music festival held in the towns of the Vysočina and South Moravian region of the Czech Republic. The festival consists of more than thirty concerts with the subtitle of "Bohemian Dreams" in the churches, castles, and castle courtyards of the Czech towns....
Festivals. She has given recitals in London, the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Brussels, Paris, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Munich, Prague, Tokyo, Yokohama and Sapporo, Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, in San Francisco and in London, Brussels, Lisbon, Vienna, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Hamburg and Prague.
Her operatic engagements have included several notable debuts: at the Châtelet
Théâtre du Châtelet
The Théâtre du Châtelet is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.One of two theatres built on the site of a châtelet, a small castle or fortress, it was designed by Gabriel Davioud at the request of Baron Haussmann between 1860 and...
, Paris in the title role in Gluck's Orphée
Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck based on the myth of Orpheus, set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing...
with John Eliot Gardiner
John Eliot Gardiner
Sir John Eliot Gardiner CBE FKC is an English conductor. He founded the Monteverdi Choir , the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique...
; at the Vienna Festival as Nerone (“L'incoronazione di Poppea
L'incoronazione di Poppea
L'incoronazione di Poppea is an Italian baroque opera comprising a prologue and three acts, first performed in Venice during the 1642–43 carnival season. The music, attributed to Claudio Monteverdi, is a setting of a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello...
”) with Minkowski; at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
(Sesto in La clemenza di Tito
La clemenza di Tito
La clemenza di Tito , K. 621, is an opera seria in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Metastasio...
); at the Leipzig Opera (Mélisande with Minkowski); at the Aix-en-Provence Festival
Aix-en-Provence Festival
The festival international d'art lyrique is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in the month of July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumental music.-Establishment:The...
as Cherubino; at the Netherlands Opera as Sesto (“Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare in Egitto , commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is an Italian opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel in 1724...
”) and at the Salzburg Festival
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
as Zerlina under Harnoncourt
Harnoncourt
Harnoncourt may refer to:Harnoncourt is a commune until 1977 in southern Belgium, now in the Rouvroy. And name of an Austrian noble family originated from that place name....
. She sang the centenary performance of Pelléas et Mélisande
Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)
Pelléas et Mélisande is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. The French libretto was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's Symbolist play Pelléas et Mélisande...
at the Opera Comique
Opera Comique
The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street and Holywell Street with entrances on the East Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway...
, Paris under Minkowski and most recently Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare under Minkowski.
Recent engagements include the roles of Idamante at the Glyndebourne and Salzburg Festivals, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro for both the Bavarian State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, Dorabella in Mozarts Cosi fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
(Salzburg Easter Festival and in Berlin) and her return to the Metropolitan Opera as Varvara (Katja Kabanova) and Dorabella. She sings Zerlina with the Metropolitan Opera in Japan, returns to the Salzburg Festival for Idamante and to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is a theatre at 15 avenue Montaigne. Despite its name, the theatre is not on the Champs-Élysées but nearby in another part of the 8th arrondissement of Paris....
for Melisande.
Awards
- 2001 Gramophone Solo Vocal AwardGramophone AwardThe Gramophone Awards are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry, often referred to as the Oscars for classical music. The winners are selected annually by critics for the Gramophone magazine and various members of the industry, including...
- 2001 Czech Crystal Award, Golden Prague International Television Festival – Best recording of a concert or stage performance (opera, operetta, ballet, dance, musical), Magdalena Kožená and Thierry GregoireThierry Gregoire-Biography:Gregoire studied at the Ecole Nationale De Musique - Charleville Mezieres, where he won 1st Prize in the class of Mme Josette Barreaud. He also studied under James Bowman, Paul Esswood, Henri Ledroit, Margreet Honig and Hubert Weller. At the suggestion of Henri Ledroit he auditioned as a...
, Česká televizeCeská televizeČeská televize is the public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting four channels.- Czechoslovak Television :Television in Czechoslovakia started to take its first steps before World War II. However, before visible results could be achieved, all activities were interrupted by...
, Brno Television Studio, Czech Republic - 2003 title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des LettresOrdre des Arts et des LettresThe Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
by the French Government - 2004 Gramophone Awards Artist of the YearGramophone AwardThe Gramophone Awards are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry, often referred to as the Oscars for classical music. The winners are selected annually by critics for the Gramophone magazine and various members of the industry, including...
Personal
Once married to the French baritone Vincent le Texier, her marriage ended after she began a relationship with the conductor Sir Simon RattleSimon Rattle
Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic ....
. In March 2005, she gave birth to their son, Jonas. In 2008 the couple had another son named Milos.
External links
- Kožená's homepage
- Review of Kožená's album "Enchantment" by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, 17 September 2006)