Command Of Language

Very occasionally when revisiting these cd's I have thought "why did I buy this one". Conversely, it has been rewarding to find many more that are better than I remembered them to be. Such is the case with this one, a fine recital by mezzo soprano / soprano Magdalena Kozena. She displays her mastery of languages since there are songs in French ( Ravel ), Russian ( Shostakovich ), Italian ( Respighi ), German ( Schulhoff ) and English ( Britten ). The accompaniments vary too; the Shostakovich and Britten have just solo piano, the Schulhoff features violin and piano, the ravel songs have flute, cello and piano and the Respighi is accompanied by a string quartet. These players are Malcolm Martineau piano, Paul Edmund-Davies flute, Jiri Barta cello, Christoph Henschel violin and the Henschel Quartet. Kozena is equally at home in the bitter satires of Shostakovich, the languid Mediterranean feel of the Respighi, the off kilter lullabies of Britten, the Exotica of Ravel's Madagascan songs and the melancholy off her fellow Czech Schulhoff ( despite the settings being of German texts ). The accompaniments are committed and add greatly to the value of the performances.