Magdalena Kozená - Lieder (2004)

Mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena has a lovely, full voice that runs effortlessly up into the soprano range. Barely in her thirties with a camera-ready face, she is also the subject of a great amount of publicity in the classical world, which is luckily justified thanks to her pure and graceful vocal power. I have yet to see her sing live, but if this recording is any indication, she must be quite theatrically charismatic in performance. Granted there are far more highs than lows, I just wish her selection of material on this recording were as immaculate.

Ambitiously, Kozena paints a musical portrait of the first half of the 20th century by performing song cycles from five disparate composers - Ravel, Shostakovich, Respigi, Schulhoff and Britten - in five different languages. The disc opens unpromisingly with Ravel's "Chansons madecasses", which suffers from an almost too languid quality with a melancholy cello and minor piano chords masking some particularly jarring tones. At certain moments, Schulhoff's "Drei Stimmungsbilder" feels like "Sturm und Drang", but Kozena saves this cycle with her impressive sense of drama and vocal beauty. Shostakovich's "Satires" is an even better showcase at displaying her remarkable dexterity in alternating the embittered tone of Sasha Chorny's verses with an almost playful effervescence. Britten's "A Charm of Lullabies" is so unlike anything else he has written that it is nothing short of a revelation for both composer and singer. His familiar discordant tones are there, especially with the aggressive piano on "Sephestia's Lullaby" and her stern demands for "Quiet!" on "A charm", but so is an intimate sense of atmosphere throughout. Of all the selections, my personal favorite has to be Respighi's lyrical poem "Il tramonto", which really captures her dramatic flair in an especially intimate musical setting propelled by a swooning string quartet. This recording is well worth getting to hear a talent as rich as Kozena's. I only hope her program next time can provide as compelling a match.