Magdalena Kozena - Bach Arias (1997)

The music on this disc dates to 1996, shortly after the then-emerging young mezzo soprano Magdalena Kozená had graduated from the Bratislava College of Music. She gave a concert of Bach arias at a medieval Benedictine monastery in the old Moravian town of Trebic, as part of a music festival called Concentus Moraviae, and it evolved into the present disc. The disc itself was recorded not at the monastery, but at a Czech concert hall with very live, cathedral-like sound. It supports the idea of the recording, which is to capture the impressive combination of creaminess and agility in Kozená's voice as her talent burst into full flower. Not everyone who cultivates an acquaintance with Bach's vocal works is going to like this release, which is of the sort that makes people say that the focus is on the singer rather than the music. Kozená twists and turns vocal lines according to her needs, for example in the curious distortion of both words and melody at the beginning of the aria "Zerfließe, mein Herze, in Fluten der Zähren" from the St. John Passion, BWV 245. But for most listeners the sheer bath of vocal sound will be a luxurious one, and the ambiance contributes nicely to the overall effect. Sample any of the slower arias, especially "Erbarme dich, mein Gott," track 4, from the St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, and hear how Kozená's voice uncannily shimmers among the orchestral shadows. In the faster numbers she imparts the briefest of vibratos to tones as they go by, without ever making the music seem fussy. The disc is recommended especially to fans of Kozená and generally to those who enjoy hearing major opera stars sing music of the Baroque. Booklet notes, not of much use (they discuss the entire pieces involved in the most general terms, not the individual arias), are in Czech and English; texts of the compositions are in their original languages, German and Latin, only.