Gratuitous Good Friday – Magdalena Kožená Sings Bach

The Monteverdi program with MK that I posted the other day is quite recent. Here is some vintage Magdalena (Amazon says it was issued in 2004, but a reviewer comments that it was recorded in 1999). This aria from Bach's St. Matthew Passion is from one of Ms. Kožená's first commercial recordings. I find her performance—and that of the un-credited solo violinist—almost unbearably moving.

Erbarme dich, mein Gott, um meiner Zähren willen! Schaue hier, Herz und Auge weint vor dir bitterlich. Erbarme dich, mein Gott.

Have mercy, my God, for the sake of my tears! See here, before you heart and eyes weep bitterly. Have mercy, my God.

Must-See Monteverdi from France

Technically, Magdalena Kožená and Rolando Villazón are the "star power" in this program. Ms. Kožená really does shine (RV, not quite so much, but we still love him), especially in her solo turns as Octavia and the lamenting Nymph (She seems to be pregnant again, which lends a special poignancy to her Octavia. I'm surprised no director has explored the idea of Octavia being pregnant when Nero dumps her. Maybe someone has and I just haven't seen it.)

But the real stars here are Emanuelle Haïm and the vocalists and instrumentalists of her Concert d'Astrée. 

The program, a "Monteverdi Gala" performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées last February, contains opera excerpts and madrigals, and it's great fun. And of course, the music-making is marvelous as usual. Conductor, musicians, and the audience all seems to be having a great time. And you will, too!  

(Unless you don't like Monteverdi, in which case, you won't enjoy this concert at all.)

Meanwhile, here's the concert, as seen on the Arte Concert website: 

In Memoriam Claudio Abaddo – Mahler Symphony #4

Mahler was just one of the composers whose music was touched by Claudio Abaddo's magic. This entire performance is wonderful! If you don't have time to listen to the whole symphony right now, jump to 47:33, where Magdalena Kožená joins in for the fourth movement. 

Mahler Symphony No 4 in G major

Claudio Abbado, the Lucerne Festival Orchesta

1.Bedächtig, nicht eilen (Moderately, not rushed)

2.In gemächlicher Bewegung, ohne Hast (Leisurely moving, without haste) 16:34

3.Ruhevoll, poco adagio (Peacefully, somewhat slowly) 26:07

4.Sehr behaglich (Very comfortably) 47:33

Watching the Radio – Gösta Winberg (and others) on Ö1 Radio

Apropos Musik on Ö1 Radio remembers Swedish tenor Gösta Winbergh just a week before what would have been his seventieth birthday, in a program called: Not just a Mozart Tenor – Gösta Winbergh.  This may come as a bit of a surprise for those of us who do think of this Swedish tenor primarily as a Mozart singer who dabbled in Wagner (notably Lohengrin). In between, he sang music of Donizetti, Bizet, and Puccini (!), to name a few others. Sadly, he died of a heart attack at the early age of 58, right after a Vienna performance of Fidelio. See! Singing Beethoven is hazardous to your health.

In this hour-long program, we get to hear him in arias from Fidelio, Carmen, Tosca, and of course, Die Zauberflöte. The program also includes duets from Die Entfürhung aus dem Serail* with Edita Gruberova, L'elisir d'amore with Barbara Bonney (BB’s Adina is another pleasant surprise!), and The Pearl Fishers.

Monteverdi Monday – Magdelena Kožená and David Daniels: Pur ti miro

From a November 23, 2005 Concert in Paris. (Sadly, it's audio only)

Sunday Brunch – Magdelena Kožená Sings Mysliveček

This aria is included in her 2002 CD Le Belle Imagini, which I just noticed that I actually own. (It's good to flip through the library now and then!) 

There are some real (and somewhat rare) gems here, and her voice was very very flexible 11 years ago (I am sure it still is, but in this recording, I find her particularly impressive. 

The text (by Metestasio) and partial English translation can be found at lieder.net.

Sunday Brunch – Mozart: Idomeneo: Andrò rammingo, e solo

Salzburg 2006: Visually, this M22 production may seem a bit bizarre, but with these wonderful singers—Magdalena Kozena, Ekaterina Siurinas, Anja Harteros, and Ramón Vargas—and Sir Roger Norrington on the podium, there is musical magic. The whole production is wonderful. (Text and translation are below.)

Ravel: L’Enfant et les Sortilèges – Digital Concert Hall

There's also an audio version available

Something cool that one might overlook when visiting the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Digital Concert Hall is the amount of opera (in concert) they present. This spring they reprised their Baden-Baden Zauberflote; and in the recent past they’ve presented Salome and Porgy and Bess. Some of the works are “semi-staged” while others are more “concerty.”

Die Zauberflöte aus Baden Baden 2013 – Review Part 2: It Takes a Village

Blindfolds. I'm tired of 'em.
Someone else can explain 'em this time.

The only characters who remain distinguishable from the crowd throughout this Zauberflöte are Pamina, Tamino, and Papageno, who wanders in from the lobby, as if from another show. Like Tamino, Pamina is literally thrown into the action. Several choristers grab her and plop her on the ground for her first scene with Monostatos.

Everyone else steps in from the chorus to be or do whatever is needed to move the story along and get the two couples united in the end; then they meld back into the ensemble. 

Reading Reviews of Röschmann's Rosenkavalier

Several fellow bloggers got to see Dorothea Röschmann and Magdalena Kožená in Der Rosenkavalier in Berlin this week. I stayed home and watched a DVD of Lohengrin (Bayreuth 2010).  Rats! Not that I didn't enjoy Lohengrin, but I have to admit I am jealous of my Berlin-visiting colleagues.  Fortunately they've shared their thoughts in their blogs.

BPO Digital Concert Hall – Part 1: The One that's about the new Carmen Recording

I just discovered the Berlin Philharmonic's Digital Concert Hall (DCH): yet another reason to spend time in front of my computer. I came across the site through Anne Sofie von Otter's Facebook page. I will say more about ASvO and DCH in a later post, since this post is supposed to be about the new Carmen recording. 

You have probably already read about the new recording of Carmen conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, and starring Mrs. Rattle Magdelena Kožená, Jonas Kaufmann, and Genia Kühmeier (a soprano to watch... and listen to, of course!) It's already been reviewed, previewed, and otherwise discussed at blogs such as Likely Impossibilities, Music Web International, Parterre Box, and I Hear Voices.  

Orphée et Eurydice: The Baroque Stylings of…Robert Wilson? (or Blue Orpheus)

OK, I admit it. On first viewing, I pretty much hated this production. I got the DVD because 1.) I will listen to anything John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir do*; 2.) I really like Magdalena Kožená; and 3.) I absolutely love this opera!

It’s so blue!  And so static!  And Orphée is so strange looking – androgynous. And what’s with the hair, and that robe?  Ironically, the copy on the DVD case says, “…Wilson makes the most of the opera’s balletic possibilities…” But, the word “mesmerizing,” is also used, and I think that is the key to enjoying this performance (that, and patience.)