French Arias

Magdalena Kozena (Artist, Performer), Ambroise Thomas (Composer), Jacques Offenbach (Composer), Jules Massenet (Composer), Charles Gounod (Composer), Francois-Adrien Boieldieu (Composer), Georges Bizet (Composer), Marc Minkowski (Conductor), Mahler Chamber Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Magdalena Kozena
• Orchestra: Mahler Chamber Orchestra
• Conductor: Marc Minkowski
• Composer: Ambroise Thomas, Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet, Charles Gounod, Francois-Adrien Boieldieu, et al.
• Audio CD (October 14, 2003)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B0000A2YCU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,014 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Having dazzled us with her coloratura ability in arias by Mozart, Gluck, and her fellow Czech, Myslivecek, this luscious young mezzo-soprano now offers us a generous program of French arias--15 of them, widely varied in tone, weight, dramatic intent, and style--and conquers and convinces in them all. Beginning again in coloratura territory, an aria from Auber's rare Le domino noir catches our attention with the heroine's opening words, "Je suis sauvée enfin!" ("I am safe at last!"), in which she paints the picture of our out-of-breath heroine immediately. Throughout the CD we meet the doomed, tragic Sappho in Gounod's opera; Dulcinée in the same composer's Don Quichotte, here presented first as lamenting lover, then as spitfire, with Kozena reaching down into her most sultry chest voice; a dreamy Marguerite in Berlioz's La damnation de Faust; a Princess languorously singing of the night in an exquisite aria from Gounod's all-but-unknown Cinq-Mars; and many others, each of whom Kozena imbues with her individual stamp, flawless technique, musicality, and beautiful tone. Almost as a bonus, the CD ends with Carmen's Gypsy Song - a real razzle-dazzler. Kozena is a great singer and this is a great recital CD--a must. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure!, February 12, 2004

By 

Suen Tsz Ho (Hong Kong China) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: French Arias (Audio CD)

this mzzo-soprano is great... she is a lighter and lyric mezzo. In this album... she sung the french arias with phrasing in detail... especially in the "Nuit Resplendissante". The balance between head vioce and chest voice in her singing is good. Her singing can really touches my heart...
it is worthy to buy this album... especially than you are tired in listening to the darker or dramatic mezzo-sopranos.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Un repertorio nuevo para Magdalena Kozena, July 13, 2005

By 

Annio mozartiano ;) "_annio_" (España) - See all my reviews

This review is from: French Arias (Audio CD)

MAGDALENA KOZENA es una mezzosoprano basicamente ligada al barroco, y particularmente a Bach y Haendel. Sorprende por tanto la aparición de este cd dodne interpreta un variado abanico de arias francesas, roles que no ha debutado en teatro y que se alejan de su estilo habitual.
Aun así, Kozena canta estas arias divinamente con estilo propio: impone un timbre seductor, claro y mórbido y un dominio absoluto del canto, aunque el registro agudo no es siempre todo lo homogeneo que sería deseable. Con todo, su interpretación de estas páginas es notable y sorprendente.
Otra baza del disco es el repertorio, que incluye arias de óperas más bien desconocidas, como 'Cleopatre' de Massenet, 'Le Cincq-Mars', 'La dame Blanche', 'Don Quixote', 'Sapho', 'Le domino Noir'....junto a otras más habituales del repertorio como 'Carmen' (aunque no está la popular habanera), 'Don Carlos' (en su versión francesa) o 'La Hora Española', además de un aria para Niclausse de 'Los Cuentos de Hoffmann' que suele cortarse en la mayoría de las representaciones. La selección es acertada y gratificante.
La orquesta, al mano de un MARK MINKOWSKI que siempre se ha interesado mucho por este repertorio, suena a las mil maravillas, y es complemento perfecto para la mezzo. Lo mismo puede decirse del coro y de las más que correctas voces escogidas para algunas partes solistas de arias puntuales.
En conclusión, este 'French Opera Arias' de Kozena es un cd muy recomendable, complemento perfecto a los recientes registros del mismo título de Natalie Dessay y Rolando Villazón (ambos en Virgin Classics)

1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice voice, but wrong repertoire, July 8, 2008

By 

S. L. Browning "S. Browning" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: French Arias (Audio CD)

Kozena has a pretty voice with good intonation, but it is still undeveloped and sometimes breathy. I don't think she is a Mezzo-Soprano, and these choices are the wrong literature for her. Singing 19th century music in a Baroque style does not do the drama justice. I think Kozena does herself, and the world, a disservice, by not practicing and developing her higher soprano notes. Remember that Joan Sutherland once sang Mezzo-Soprano, but changed her focus to Soprano, calling her mezzo days "a lazy soprano".