More Information About Mezzo-Soprano Magdalena Kozená

Website

http://performances.org/performances/0809/Kozena.html

Description

<p>From the rich musical traditions of her native Czech Republic to an expansive repertoire ranging from Baroque to modern, Magdalena Kozená brings an intensely personal, emotional quality to her performances. She arrived on the world stage when she won the 1995 International Mozart Competition in Salzburg, and her first solo recording, in 2001, won the Gramophone Award. Kozená is a mezzo-soprano who steadfastly believes “It’s not about singing—it’s about telling the story via singing.” Her 2004 SFP debut demonstrated that special gift.</p> <p>Magdalena Kozená was born in Brno, studied at the Brno Conservatoire and with Eva Blahová at the College of Performing Arts in Bratislava. She was awarded several major prizes in both the Czech Republic and internationally, culminating in the 6th International Mozart Competition in Salzburg in 1995.</p> <p>She is an exclusive artist with Deutsche Grammophon, and her first solo recital disc of Dvorak, Janacek and Martinu won the Gramophone Solo Vocal Award, 2001. Recent recordings with DG include Mozart, Gluck and Myslivecek arias with the Prague Philharmonia and Michel Swierczewski; French arias with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Minkowski; Gluck’s Paride ed Elena with the Gabrieli Consort and McCreesh; a recital with Malcolm Martineau; an acclaimed disc of cantatas by members of the Bach family (Lamento) with Musica Antiqua Köln and Reinhard Goebel, a Mozart album with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Sir Simon Rattle and a Handel disc with the Venice Baroque and Andrea Marcon. She was the 2004 Gramophone Awards Artist of the Year.</p> <p>Magdalena Kozená is well established as a major concert and recital artist. Recital appearances have taken her to London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Vienna, Hamburg, Lisbon, Prague, Copenhagen, Tokyo, San Francisco, and New York’s Alice Tully and Carnegie Hall. She has also appeared at the Munich, Salzburg, Schwarzenberg Schubertiade, Aldeburgh and Edinburgh festivals. Her pianists include Daniel Barenboim, Yefim Bronfman and Malcolm Martineau.</p> <p>Her concert appearances include the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle; the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with Sir Charles Mackerras; the Wiener Philharmoniker and Daniel Harding; the Accademia Santa Cecilia with Myung-Whun Chung and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela with Gustavo Dudamel.</p> <p>Operatic engagements have included Gluck's Orphée with Gardiner in Paris; Nerone (L’Incoronazione di Poppea) with Minkowski in Vienna; Mélisande in Paris with both Bernard Haitink and Marc Minkowski; Cherubino in Aix-en-Provence and Munich; Sesto (Giulio Cesare) in Amsterdam. At the Salzburg Festivals her roles have included Zerlina (Don Giovanni) with Harnoncourt, Idamantes with Norrington and Rattle and Dorabella with Rattle. At the Metropolitan Opera she has sung Varvara (Katja Kabanova) with Belohlavek and Cherubino, Dorabella and Idamantes with Levine and for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden she has sung the title role of La Cenerentola.</p> <p>In 2003 she was awarded the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.</p>

About the Ticket Supplier: San Francisco Performances

Founded in 1979, San Francisco Performances is the Bay Area's leading independent presenter of chamber music, vocal and instrumental recitals, jazz and contemporary dance. Under the artistic direction of its founder, Ruth Felt, the organization presents internationally acclaimed and emerging performing artists, introduces innovative programs, and builds new and diversified audiences for the arts through education and outreach activities that also strengthen the local performing arts community.
SFP is also committed to presenting artistically important programs that influence the development of the arts. This includes commissioning new works, offering programs featuring 20th and 21st century compositions and premieres, and presenting important American and international contemporary dance companies.



SFP is also committed to presenting artistically important programs that influence the development of the arts. This includes commissioning new works, offering programs featuring 20th and 21st century compositions and premieres, and presenting important American and international contemporary dance companies.