Music

One of the foremost singers of her generation, mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená was born in Brno, the Czech Republic, and studied in her hometown and Bratislava. Kožená’s profound musicianship attracted critical acclaim from an early age.

The Sixth International Mozart Competition in Salzburg in 1995 opened up her successful career and Kožená established her reputation as an excellent performer who can hold song recital, concert hall and opera audiences spellbound. She has since developed a broad scope of repertoire ranges across Monteverdi, Mozart, Mahler and Martinů, collaborated with many great musicians and orchestras, and performed in the most prestigious halls and festivals over the world.

After five years, Kožená tours Hong Kong in the company of the Basal-based La Cetra Baroque Orchestra with the programme Con che soavi accenti under the direction of Andrea Marcon, a leading interpreter of the Baroque and Classical periods. Kožená has recorded three releases of the arias of Handel, Vivaldi and Monteverdi. This collaboration brings vivid musical scenes of the first half of the 17th century Venice to life, focusing on Monteverdi, the master who developed opera to its full dramatic and musical potentials, and chamber works by Uccellini, Merula and Marini, virtuosic violinist-composers who gave instrumental music its pedigree.　

Juxtaposing with a new commission inspired by Monteverdi’s Lamento di Arianna and the incredibly intense Sequenza III (1964) for female voice by Berio, this programme presents not only the sheer beauty of Kožená’s voice but also the extraordinary versatility and virtuosity have been recognised throughout her career.