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Magdalena KozenaCzech mezzo-soprano singer.
Date of Birth: 26.05.1973
Country:  Czech |
Content:
Biography of Magdalena Kožená
Magdalena Kožená is a Czech mezzo-soprano singer. She was born into a family of scientists, with her father being a mathematician and her mother a biologist. Initially, she studied piano but after fracturing her hand at the age of six, she turned to singing and joined the children's choir of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra. Kožená later studied at the Brno Conservatory and the Higher School of Music in Bratislava, graduating in 1995.
In the same year, she became a laureate of the Salzburg Festival. From 1996 to 1997, she was a soloist at the Vienna Volksoper. In addition to performing the traditional classical and romantic repertoire, Kožená also works in the baroque style. She has collaborated extensively with John Eliot Gardiner in his jubilee cycle of Bach cantatas (2000) and recorded Handel and Gluck's music with Marc Minkowski (1996-2003). She has also worked with the baroque orchestra "Musica antiqua" in Cologne, led by Reinhard Goebel, on rare cantatas by the Bach family (2000-2003).
In 2003, Kožená was awarded the title of Knight of the Order of Literature and Art by the French government. She is married to conductor Sir Simon Rattle and they have two sons, Jonas (born 2005) and Miloš (born 2008).
Awards
- 2001 Gramophone Award - Solo Vocal
- 2001 Czech Crystal Award, Golden Prague International Television Festival - Best Concert Performance Recording (Opera, Operetta, Ballet, Dance, Musicality), Magdalena Kožená and Thierry Grégoire, Czech Television, Brno Television Studio, Czech Republic
- 2003 Knight of the Order of Literature and Art, bestowed by the French government
- 2004 Gramophone Award - Artist of the Year
