Songs

1	Chansons madécasses, song
2	Chansons madécasses, song
3	Chansons madécasses, song
4	Satires (5), for soprano
5	Satires (5), for soprano
6	Satires (5), for soprano
7	Satires (5), for soprano
8	Satires (5), for soprano
9	Il tramonto (The Sunset),
10	Stimmungsbilder (3), Op 1
11	Stimmungsbilder (3), Op 1
12	Stimmungsbilder (3), Op 1
13	A Charm of Lullabies, son
14	A Charm of Lullabies, son
15	A Charm of Lullabies, son
16	A Charm of Lullabies, son
17	A Charm of Lullabies, son
Songs
1.	Chansons madécasses, song cycle for soprano voice, flute, cello & piano 14:48
	Composed by Maurice Ravel
	Performed by Paul Edmund-Davies, Magdalena Kozená, Malcolm Martineau and Jiri Barta
2.	Satires (5), for soprano & piano, Op. 109 14:50
	Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich
	Performed by Magdalena Kozená and Malcolm Martineau
3.	Il tramonto (The Sunset), for voice & string quartet/string orchestra, P. 101 15:26
	Composed by Ottorino Respighi
	Performed by Magdalena Kozená and Henschel Quartet
4.	Stimmungsbilder (3), Op 12/ WV 30 6:08
	Composed by Erwin Schulhoff
	Performed by Magdalena Kozená, Malcolm Martineau and Christoph Henschel
5.	A Charm of Lullabies, song cycle for mezzo soprano & piano, Op. 41 12:35
	Composed by Benjamin Britten
	Performed by Magdalena Kozená and Malcolm Martineau

Barnes & Noble

Magdalena Kozená is quickly establishing herself as a major artist, by dint of her limpid, silvery voice and her restless musical intelligence. Having already proved her mettle in repertory ranging from 18th-century arias to Czech art songs to Bach choral works to French opera, the Czech-born mezzo-soprano now tackles the 20th century, essaying the works of five different composers, in five different languages. The result is a gorgeous album that displays all the singer's vocal skills and dramatic flair. Kozená begins by exploring the ripe eroticism of Ravel's Chansons madécasses (Madagascan Songs), evoking the bloom of desire even in "Aoua!," ostensibly a cri de coeur assailing European colonizers. She then pitches into Shostakovich's Satires in tones that are alternately sly, raucous, and biting, communicating the lyrics' jaundiced view of life with obvious relish. But the true revelation here is the album's centerpiece, Respighi's 15-minute La tramonta (The Sunset), based on a poem by Shelley. Here the mood shifts to romantic melancholy; Kozená conveys sorrow, longing, and resignation through heart-stopping vocal inflections that transcend mere technical facility, entering an interpretive realm inhabited by legends such as Callas and Schwarzkopf. Wisely, the rest of the program is less freighted with emotion, consisting of Erwin Schulhoff's lyrical Drei Stimmungsbilder (Three Atmospheric Portraits) and Benjamin Britten's sprightly Charm of Lullabies. Variations in accompaniment --from Malcolm Martineau's incisive piano work to the brooding strains of the Henschel Quartet (in the Respighi) -- add further complexity and interest. The only uncertainty posed by these performances would be: Are they best enjoyed in a single sitting as a widely varied concert, or best savored in sections as five mini-recitals? The best way to decide is to try both methods repeatedly, something that owners of this disc will consider an easy assignment. Philip Koslow

Gramophone

Kozená's mezzo is a young gazelle of a voice, soaring up into soprano territory as easily as Anne Sofie von Otter or Susan Graham, and it takes very kindly to the recording process. There is not a moment on this disc when the tone sounds strained or its beauty manufactured.... Did anybody say 20th-century songs were difficult to enjoy? Here is a disc where they cast a spell of enchantment. Richard Fairman

Time Out New York

The recital succeeds on the sheer beauty of Kozená's voice. Her light-hued, dewily focused tone is tantalizing and attractive, her capacity for emotive variety prodigious. Given her rare combination of precision, range and boldness, it's no wonder Kozená is securing a major place on the world stage. Daniel Felsenfeld

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Kozená is smart and literate -- or at least sings that way -- and she's alert to the nuances of storytelling. In Ravel's "Il est doux," part of the exotic "Madagascan Songs" [Chansons madécasses], Kozená makes the tale personal. She sings the line "dancing is for me/almost as nice as a kiss" like it's the private recollection of a secret tryst of long ago, a memory that still tingles. It comes as a flash of introspection, where a lesser artist would have been content to skate the music's surface beauty. [Grade: A] Pierre Ruhe