Love and Longing - Ravel / Dvorák / Mahler

Magdalena Kozená, Berliner Philharmoniker, Simon Rattle

Released on 5/2/12 by Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Main artists: Magdalena Kožená Berliner Philharmoniker Sir Simon Rattle
Genre: Classical

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This album of three very different song cycles comes from a live 2012 recording Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozená made with the Berlin Philharmonic, led by Simon Rattle. It's a hugely successful recording by one the most multifaceted, expressive, and distinctive mezzo-sopranos of her time. From the first notes of Dvorák's Biblical Songs, Kozená warm, limpid voice and lyrical phrasing envelop the listener. The Biblical Songs are relatively reserved, understated settings of selections from Psalms that highlight the deeply personal, passionate interior focus the singer is capable of evoking. The songs may not be overtly showy, but they put Kozená's dark amber tone and the velvety seamlessness of her delivery on full display. Ravel's Shéhérazade and Mahler's Rückert Lieder on the other hand give Kozená the opportunity to cut loose and soar ecstatically over the orchestra. In the Ravel she sings with an appropriately Gallic transparency. She brings a sound to the Mahler that is both solid and refined and there are many moments, such as at the ending of "Um Mitternacht" where her voice has a shimmering radiance. The three cycles are stylistically diverse but heartfelt emotion is at the root of each of them, and Kozená gives voice to those passions with nuanced tonal coloring and musically varied delivery. Her singing is matched by the lustrous playing of the Berlin Philharmonic. Rattle is a sympathetic collaborator and is acutely sensitive to the give and take between singer and orchestra, particularly in the sensuous rhythmic fluidity and timbral translucence of the Ravel. Deutsche Grammophon's sound is so clean, present, and well-balanced that it could easily be mistaken for a studio recording.

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Love and Longing - Ravel / Dvorák / Mahler

Magdalena Kožená

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Biblical Songs, Op. 99 - Orchestrated By Vilém Zemánek (Antonín Dvořák)

1. Oblak a mrákota jest vůkol něho

Antonín Dvořák

00:02:19

Antonín Dvorák, Composer - Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchestra, MainArtist - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor, MainArtist - Arend Prohmann, Producer, Recording Producer - Magdalena Kozená, Mezzo-Soprano, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - The Bible, Author - Dr. Alexander Buhr, Producer - Vilem Zemanek, Arranger, Orchestrator - Angelika Meissner, Producer - Kai Mielisch, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Klaus-Peter Gross, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel