Deutsche Grammophon Releases Recording of Magdalena Kozena Singing Love Letters

Celebrated Czech mezzo Magdalena Kožená returns with an all-new recording of 17th century vocal music celebrating the various forms of love and devotion. This departure from her standard repertoire afforded her the chance to work with the early-music ensemble Private Musicke and their director, Pierre Pitzl. This all-new recording will be released by Deutsche Grammophon on November 22, 2010.

Though Magdalena Kožená rarely performs this music, it is actually music that she grew up with. When she was 16 she teamed up with a lutenist to perform secular songs by Monteverdi and his compatriots and reveled in the creative freedom their music allowed her.

"I find its simplicity very attractive," she says. "And a simple song can go very deep. This music speaks to people who don't regard themselves as classical specialists. It comes from a time when there was no equivalent to our divide between classical and pop music: it was simply the music everybody heard and sang. Some of these songs would have been performed in churches, but some are street music, and others were just intended for people to come together and play, rather than perform for an audience. It's very much ensemble music, rather than about who is going to shine the brightest, and be the star."

This sense of collaboration extends to the unique ensemble she has partnered with. Since its founding in 1998, Private Musicke (the name is taken from a 1620 collection of consort music by the English composer Martin Peerson) has undertaken numerous projects and collaborations and has appeared at various European early music festivals. The actual instrumentation of the group changes from viols to plucked instruments and a combination of both depending on the needs of the music. Additional percussion instruments are sometimes added for authentic flair.

Both Magdalena Kožená and the musicians of Private Musicke were empowered to make bold personal statements with each work. Perhaps the most extraordinary work in this collection is Tarquinio Merula's Canzonetta spirituale sopra alla nanna, a cradle song of the Virgin Mary. As much a lament as a lullaby, the song unfolds over just two plucked chords which the ensemble elaborates with exquisite delicacy, gradually deepening the color. After her desperate description of the physical torments her child will later endure, the singer finally sends herself - and her baby - into a state of repose. The instrumental gear-change accompanying this resolution is magical.

Magdalena Kožená returns to the Metropolitan Opera for performances in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande beginning December 17 and ending on January 1, 2011.

The mezzo's most recent releases on Deutsche Grammophon include Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Pierre Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra, released in October, and a recital of Vivaldi arias released in February.

Click here for more information and to watch a video of Magdalena
www.DeutscheGrammophon.com

Tracklisting:

FILIPPO VITALI (c1599-1653)
[1] O bei lumi (Musiche a una e due voci, Libro secondo, 1618)

SIGISMONDO D'INDIA (c1582- before 19 April 1629)
[2] Cruda Amarilli (Primo libro di musiche da cantar solo, 1609)

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI (1567-1643)
[3] Sì dolce è il tormento (Quarto scherzo delle ariose vaghezze, 1624)

GIULIO CACCINI (1551-1618)
[4] Odi, Euterpe, 'l dolce canto (Le nuove musiche, 1601/02)

LUIS DE BRICEÑO (fl early 17th century)
[5] Caravanda Ciacona

TARQUINIO MERULA (1594/5-1665)
[6] Canzonetta spirituale sopra alla nanna: Hor ch'è tempo di dormire
(Curtio precipitato et altri capricii, Libro secondo, 1638)

GASPAR SANZ (mid 17th-early 18th century)
[7] Canarios (Instrucción de música sobre la guitarra española, 1674)

SIGISMONDO D'INDIA
[8] Ma ché? Squallido e oscuro (Primo libro di musiche da cantar solo, 1609)

BIAGIO MARINI (1594-1663)
[9] Con le stelle in ciel (Scherzi e canzonette op. 5, 1622)

GIROLAMO KAPSBERGER (c1580-1651)
[10] Felici gl'animi (Libro quarto di villanelle, 1623)

GIOVANNI DE MACQUE (1548/50-1614)
[11] Capriccio stravagante

GIROLAMO KAPSBERGER
[12] Aurilla mia, quando m'accese (Libro secondo di villanelle, 1619)

SIGISMONDO D'INDIA
[13] Torna il sereno Zefiro (Quinto libro di musiche da cantar solo, 1623)

GIOVANNI PAOLO FOSCARINI (fl 1629-1647)
[14] Ciacona (Primo libro di musiche da cantar solo, 1609)

BARBARA STROZZI (1619-1677)
[15] L'Eraclito amoroso: Udite amanti (Cantate, ariette e duetti, op. 2, 1651)

LUCAS RUIZ DE RIBAYAZ (*before 1650)
[16] Espagnoletta (Luz y norte musical para caminar, 1677)

TARQUINIO MERULA
[17] Folle è ben chi si crede (Curtio precipitato et altri capricii, Libro secondo, 1638)

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