Magdalena Kožená
Kožená [ maɡdalɛna koʒɛna ː ] ( born May 26, 1973 in Brno ) is a Czech mezzo-soprano.
Life
Kožená who has wanted since early childhood to become a pianist, began at the age of eight years playing the piano. A severe hand injury ended the plans for a career as a pianist at the age of twelve years. After changing into singing repertory she started in 1987 to study as a mezzo- soprano at the Brno Conservatory, she continued in 1991 at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Bratislava at Eva Blahová. As early as 1995, the year of her diploma, she won the 6th International Mozart Competition in Salzburg.
2002 married Magdalena Kozená the French baritone Vincent le Texier, whom she left in 2004 but for the conductor Sir Simon Rattle. The first joint son of Kozená and Rattle, Jonáš, came in March 2005 in Salzburg to the world, the second, Miloš, in June 2008 in Aix -en- Provence. Kozená Rattle and married in October 2008 in her hometown of Brno. The family lives in Berlin.
Career as a singer
Her first engagement had Kozená in 1996 at the Opera House of the Janáček Theatre in Brno as Dorabella in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte. There was a commitment to the Vienna Volksoper. After the end of this commitment Kozená worked as a freelancer and lived for some time in Paris. Your big break had Kožená in 2000, when she stepped in at the Vienna Festival for the diseased Anne Sofie von Otter - as Nero in Monteverdi's L' incoronazione di Poppea. She has performed at major opera stages, especially in Europe, as well as at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (2003, 2006) and appeared at the Salzburg Festival. As musical partners with whom Kozená has completed numerous public appearances, the pianist and accompanist Graham Johnson and (currently ) Malcolm Martineau should be mentioned.
On May 1, 2013 Kožená worked at the European concert of the Berlin Philharmonic in the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle as a recitalist with. Conducted by Simon Rattle she wore eight ( out of ten) Biblical Songs by Antonin Dvorak ago. The concert was broadcast on radio and television worldwide.
Among the honors that have been bestowed Kožená, awarded the title Chevalier de l' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture (2003) is noteworthy.
Awards
- Echo Klassik (2000, 2002)
- Gramophone Award (2001, 2003, 2004)
- Person of the Year in Culture (2002, 2003)
- Chevalier de l' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la République Française (2003)
CDs
Exclusive to German Grammophon