the top 10 opera singers of today

renée fleming

anna netrebko

angela gheorghiu

anja harteros
joyce didonato

elina garanca
juan diego florez

jonas kaufmann

dmitri hvorostovsky

rené pape

1. 2nd revision of list on March 7th 2012, where plácido domingo is replaced by anja harteros. next to go are a) dmitri hvorostovsky if he does not improve upon his singing or b) angela gheorghiu if she does not expand her repertoire.
2. 1st revision June 17th 2012 after thorough deliberations, where waltraud meier and karita mattila from the initial list have been replaced by joyce didonato and juan diego florez.

Although there is most certainly always a subjective element to any top 10 list, the size of the singers career and popularity are important parameters alongside vocal quality.
My entirely subjective top 10 list below (random order):

eva-maria westbroek
anne schwanewilms (mainly in lieder)
waltraud meier
anna caterina antonacci
magdalena kozena (lieder and concert mainly)
karita matila
jonas kaufmann
peter mattei
gerald finley
rene pape

Magdalena Kozena - Love and longing

Love and longing. CD. 2012. Songs by Ravel, Dvorak and Mahler. Simon Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonics.

Even after pondering the question, I still think that Magdalena Kozena (born 1973) probably has the most beautiful voice around anywhere on stage today. And she just becomes better and better.

In my book, she is essentially a concert and lied singer, though she regularly performs in opera. Projecting mixure of shyness and awkwardness (not vocally mind you) on the operatic stage, I have seen her as both Octavian and Melisande. And her Idamante is available on DVD. However, it is on the concert stage, she does her finest work. And nothing she has done is really better than this recent disc with songs by Ravel (Sheherazade), Dvorak (Biblical Songs op. 99), and Mahler (Rückert-lieder) entitled "Love and longing" in accordance with recent record labelling trends.

With a creamy voice of incredible beauty, even throughout the register, she possesses an instrument as few (really is there anyone else?) today. Combined with profound textual understanding as well as faultless phrasing, I really do not have a critical word to say of this disc. Not to forget the superb accompanying provided by the Berlin Philharmonics under Simon Rattle. They just show us just how important the orchestra is in orchestral songs, with a performance far far above average.

Album trailer:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

5

Berlin: Magdalena Kozena in Octavian role debut

Rosenkavalier. Berlin State Opera, March 7th 2009. Production: Nicolas Brieger. Cast: Angela Denoke (Marschallin), Magdalena Kožená (Octavian), Sylvia Schwartz (Sophie), Peter Rose (Ochs), Hans-Joachim Ketelsen (Faninal). Conductor: Asher Fisch. Further information here.

The main interest in this revival of Briegers stylish Rosenkavalier production at the Berlin State Opera was Dorothea Röschmann and Magdalena Kožená in their role debuts as Marschallin and Octavian, respectively. In the end, Röschmann cancelled her participation and was replaced in all performances by Angela Denoke.

Magdalena Kožená´s stage presence is a mixture of neurotic hyperenergy and shyness, not entirely inappropriate for an Octavian. And her voice is clearly among the most beautiful lyrical mezzo-sopranos on stage today, light as well as even. However, as Octavian she is stretched beyond her vocal limits, almost retorting to shrieking out the high notes and with seemingly no vocal reserves left. Bearing in mind the relatively small size of this house, any attempts at this part at a larger house would seem hazardous. As she is clearly no comic actress there may not be many operatic parts suitable to showcase her immense vocal qualities. I believe ms. Kožená has previously stated that she considers lieder singing her strongest asset, a field where she is matched by few.

Rather superb performance from the slightly cool-voiced Angela Denoke as the Marschallin, capturing the essence of the part with extraordinary vocal characterization in addition to looking great and acting well. A slight unsteadiness towards the top is of far less importance here than in the heavier repertoire (Leonore-Fidelio, Kundry etc.), she unfortunately takes on as well.
Also Sylvia Schwartz, a company member who was declared indisposed due to a a muscle fiber neck injury, made a very fine Sophie. Peter Rose is as fine an Ochs as any and while subtlety may not be Asher Fish´s strongest asset, the piece does move along in a refreshingly no-nonsense reading.

The bottom line:

Angela Denoke: 4-5
Peter Rose: 4-5
Magdalena Kozena: 4
Sylvia Schwartz: 4

Brieger´s production: 4

Asher Fish: 4

Overall impression: 4

DVD: Salzburg Idomeneo with Harteros, Kozena, Siurina, Vargas

Idomeneo. Salzburg Festival 2006. Production: Ursel and Karl-Ernst Herrmann. Cast: Ramón Vargas (Idomeneo), Magdalena Kozena (Idamante), Ekaterina Siurina (Ilia), Anja Harteros (Elettra). Conductor: Sir Roger Norrington witht the Salzburger Camerata. Further information here.

Ursel and Karl-Ernst Herrmann has created a minimalistic staging using simple, bright colours, in which he stage extends in front of the orchestra. Thus the singers continually circle the stage appearing on all sides of the orchestra located in the middle. These sorts of minimalistic setting obviously leave ample space for the music to shine, however when as loosely directed as seems the case here, they also place great demands on the artists, as they are basically up there, entirely naked.

And in that respect, the protagonists range between fine and excellent.
Magdalena Kozena is vocally ideal as Idamante with her smooth and light, agile mezzo. On stage, however, she seems uncomfortable and her Idamante appears a hyperactive neurotic. Though, who know, he perhaps is a hyperactive neurotic? And in her scenes with Ekaterina Siurinas beautifully sung and stylishly acted Ilia they did appear convincingly in love. Notwithstanding the intrigues from Anja Harteros mightily impressive Elettra, to be heard below in her mad scene. As the only one, Ramón Vargas disappointed somewhat as a rather dry-sounding Idomeneo.

Vivacious accompaniment from Sir Roger Norrington and the Salzburger Camerata.

This is part of the Mozart22 collection, the DVD-recordings of Mozart´s entire operatic output to celebrate the 250th year of his birth at the 2006 Salzburg Festival.

Idamante (Magdalena Kozena), Non ho colpa:

Anja Harteros: D´Oreste, d´Ajace

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

Magdalena Kozena: 4
Ramón Vargas: 3
Anja Harteros: 4-5
Ekaterina Siurina: 5

Ursel and Karl-Ernst Herrmann´s staging: 4

Sir Roger Norrington: 4

Overall impression: 4

Posted by terezqa on YouTube

Salzburg 2006: A Mozart Gala

A Mozart gala. Salzburg Festival 2006. Soloists: René Pape, Michael Schade, Ekaterina Siurina, Thomas Hampson, Magdelena Kozena, Anna Netrebko, Patricia Petibon. Conductor: Daniel Harding with the Vienna Philharmonics. Further information and detailed programme here.

I suppose this is a case of: If you like this sort of thing, you will most definitely like this DVD..
And by this sort of thing I mean a glitzy gala concert with a bunch of star singers each performing one aria, including some orchestral padding.

The overall quality is impeccably high, however I have to admit, that no matter how perfectly brilliant the individual performances, I find these things tedious to watch.
That said, several of the performances were indeed perfectly brilliant (René Pape with the Catalogue Aria, Magdalena Kozená with "Parto, ma tu ben mio", Ekaterina Siurina with "Se il padre perdei") and none were less than fine. Anna Netrebko finished the singer´s part of the show with an engaging delivery of "D´Oreste, D´Ajace".

All engagingly accompanied by Daniel Harding, who finished the evening with a straight-on delivery of Mozart´s Prague Symphony (personally I would have preferred some more singing, however).

The occasion, of course, was the 250th anniversary of Mozart´s birth, which was celebrated at the Salzburg Festival in 2006 with DVD releases of his entire operatic output. As well as this gala concert from the Felsenreitschule.

Ekaterina Siurina "Il padre perdei" (Idomeneo):

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

If I liked this sort of thing: 5

Video by tenore23 on YouTube

Magdalena Kozena: Songs my mother taught me

Magdalena Kožená: Songs my mother taught me. Songs by J.J. Rösler, A. Dvořák, V. Novák, L. Janáček, B. Martinů, E. Schulhoff and P. Eben. Accompanied by Malcolm Martineau and guitarist Michael Freimuth
Full track list here. Further information here.

According to the promotional material this new Magdalena Kožená disc "presents a personal collection of songs she has known since childhood and that form some of her earliest musical influences...they are just the sort of songs a mother would sing to her baby".

Named after one of Dvořák´s Gypsy Song, "Songs my mother taught me", the disc features 34 relatively short songs exclusively by Czech composers, including several rarities. She is accompanied by the excellent Malcolm Martineau on piano and guitarist Michael Freimuth in Eben´s beautiful (and previously unknown to me) Lute songs. For Dvořák´s Moravian duets, Magdalena Kožená was joined by Dorothea Röschmann, a work they also performed together in Berlin earlier this year.

That Magdalena Kožená has a very beautiful and even lyrical mezzo-soprano voice is not new. Neither is her exquisite sense of characterization also heard on previous CD´s such as her Mozart recital disc or her exquisite French Arias all previously released under her solo contract with Deutsche Grammophone, as is this disc.

Here she sings songs from her native country in her native language. And perhaps this contributes to the added impression of commitment she brings to this repertoire. With more individuality in expression, she could be one of the greats.

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):

4-5

Entertaining Berlin duo recital: Röschmann and Kozená with Barenboim

Dorothea Röschmann (soprano), Magdalena Kozená (mezzo-soprano), Daniel Barenboim (piano). Berlin State Opera. April 27th 2008.

Despite the slightly antisocial scheduling of this recital at 11 am on a Sunday with the most superb weather seen as of yet this year, the Berlin State Opera was sold out for this duo recital of 19th century songs.

The concert was divided in two, with each half consisting of two duo sections and one solo section (programme listed below).

And I can report that both ladies both looked and sang superbly with Magdalena Kozená looking at least 7 months pregnant.

Magdalena Kozená represents the exquisite and delicately elegant singing style combining a perfectly controlled voice over the entire range with sensitive phrasing and immense varieties in word colouring. For her solo section, she unfortunately chose a selection of songs by Duparc, where she, in my opinion, fell short in terms of expressive power, though nevertheless exquisitely sung. Not surprisingly these songs are also commonly performed by Karita Mattila, having the sort of voice I´d find optimally suited to Duparc´s expressivity.

Dorothea Röschmann represents a more expressive singing style, with storytelling and declamation her first priority, not always opting for the beautiful sound, although she indeed has a beautiful voice. Her solo section consisted of songs by Wolf, performed with plenty of character and humour.

Their voices blended eloquently together, again with Dorothea Röschmann emerging the characterful and Magdelena Kozena the elegant, though with a tendency of Dorothea Röschmann to vocally overpower Magdelena Kozena. Both visibly enjoyed themselves, and in general the atmosphere of the entire recital was joyful, with the artists receiving far more applause than usual in Berlin (I suppose most of the audience were foreigners as well).

Accompanist was Daniel Barenboim, of whom can be said that he played exquisitely and with grace, never drawing attention to himself but providing a solid platform for the two ladies to shine. Furthermore he looked in very good health indeed (for those speculating on the reasons behind his cancellation of the current run of Don Giovanni performances, one of which is indeed scheduled later this afternoon).

Recital programme:

MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (duets)
Ich wollt´, meine Lieb
Abschiedslied der Zugvögel
GrußHerbstlied
Maiglöckchen und die Blümelein

HUGO WOLF (Dorothea Röschmann)
Nimmersatte Liebe
An eine Äolsharfe
Erstes Liebeslied eines Mädchens
Denk es o Seele
Im Frühling
Gesang Weylas
Begegnung

JOHANNES BRAHMS (duets)
Die Schwestern
Es ging ein Maidlein
Phänomen
Och Mod’r, ich well en Ding han
Weg der Liebe

Intermission

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS (duet)
Pastorale

CHARLES GOUNOD (duet)
D’un coeur qui t’aime

GABRIEL FAURÉ (duet)
Puisqu’ici-bas toute âme
Tarentelle

HENRI DUPARC (Magdalena Kozená)
L’Invitation au Voyage
Extase
Chanson triste
Phidylé

ANTONÍN DVORÁK (duets)

V dobrým sme se sešli
Holub na javore
Zajatá
Zelenaj se, zelenaj
Prsten

Sir Simon Rattle shines in Pelléas and Mélisande with highly pregnant Magdalena Kozená in Berlin

Pélleas and Mélisande. Berlin State Opera. April 10, 2008. Production: Ruth Berghaus. Cast: Magdalena Kozená (Melisande), William Burden (Pélleas), Hanno Müller-Brachmann (Golaud), Robert Lloyd (Arkel).Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle Details here.

This was indeed Sir Simon Rattle´s evening. It just took a couple of seconds of the prelude to realize, that his take on this score is exceptional: The unending flow and the myriad of details of melted into orchestral playing that I simply cannot imagine being bettered. He literally made the interludes the highlights of the performance.

And my expectations were not even that high: Based on my previous knowledge of Simon Rattle, I´ve always found him a somewhat disengaging/uninteresting conductor, but with an interesting choice of repertoire.But in Pélleas, his enthusiasm lifted the entire auditorium and he, deservedly, received massive applause. The orchestra literally shone, in what was in fact Sir Simon Rattle´s debut at the Berlin State Opera, apparently switching podium for the evening with Daniel Barenboim, who simultaneously conducted the Berlin Philharmonics over at the Berlin Philharmonie.

Now why does it just not sound like this when Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonics? Seriously, if it did, I don´t think any German music critic would question his leadership of that orchestra (as they do more than occasionally, as it is).

The production is the old Ruth Berghaus staging from 1991 - very abstract and simple in the outlook, with basically one single set, as pictured above. Undoubtedly, Hanno Müller-Brachmann was the most convincing of the singers, with a beautiful rendition of Golaud´s part.
Magdalena Kozená has an exceptionally beautiful and even voice - she is just not a very convincing actress, to put it mildly Changing at random between her two (maximum three) facial expressions throughout. A semi-dramatic moment arrived, when the highly pregnant (with Sir Simon Rattle by the way) Kozená rolled down the hill at the right side of the stage, but luckily it seemed intentional. But, admittedly, she is not helped by Mélisande´s heavy bubbly costumes and the fact that she, in her heavily pregnant state, continuously has to walk up and down a small hill on stage. She would have been more than justified to cancel, but luckily for us, she didn´t and, in my opinion, deserves major credit for going through with this engagement.

I thought William Burden (not previously known to me) a rather anonymous Pélleas, while Robert Lloyd, with his strange nasal sound, was dramatically convincing, as always, as Arkel. Perhaps the most touching scene of the evening: The boy soprano (from the Tölzer Boy Chorus) singing the role of Yniold.

Now on my wish-list: To hear Sir Simon Rattle conduct more opera. And in places more accessible than the Salzburg Easter Festival or Aix-en-Provence Festival (where he is currently in the middle of Ring Cycles).

The pregnant Magdalena Kozená as Mélisande