Cosmos: Magdalena Kožená & Sir Simon Rattle

Α classical song recital

Magdalena Kožená and Sir Simon Rattle are coming to the SNFCC in October, for a unique recital filled with soulful vocals and soothing piano melodies.

The Czech mezzo-soprano and the current music director of the London Symphony Orchestra are partners in life and in art; for the latter to take his seat at the piano as accompanist, however, is a rare event.

The couple's performance will be embracing the music heritage of Kožená's Czech homeland, while offering contrasting responses to Shakespeare's troubled Ophelia.

Kožena and Rattle's concert opens with French composer Ernest Chausson's last completed work and goes on to include works of Stravinsky, Ravel, R. Strauss και Brahms as well us Czech composer Antonín Leopold Dvořák's evergreen “Songs my mother taught me”, arranged especially for the occasion by English composer and conductor Duncan Ward. The duo will also perform Czech composer Leoš Janáček's irresistible “Říkadla”, in a rare arrangement created for voice, piano and clarinet.

Sir Simon Rattle was Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1980 to 1998, before moving to Berlin in 2002 to hold the positions of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker – from which he stepped down in 2018. He became Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra in September 2017 and spent the 2017-18 season at the helm of both ensembles. He has received numerous international awards, including a Grammy in 2009, while he maintains longstanding relationships with the leading orchestras in London, Europe and the US. Rattle regularly conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker, next to being a Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Founding Patron of Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.

Kožená has worked with many of the world's leading conductors as well as distinguished recital partners performing at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, as well as at the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh and Salzburg festivals . She has been awarded major prizes both in the Czech Republic and internationally and has worked with many of the world's leading conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Mariss Jansons, Sir Charles Mackerras and Sir Roger Norrington. Her latest album, a collection of scenes from secular cantatas on tragic love, was released in May 2019.

Schedule:

Ernest Chausson, Chanson perpétuelle, Op. 37 (Perpetual Song)                                                    
Igor Stravinsky, Three songs from William Shakespeare 
Maurice Ravel, Chansons madécasses (Madagascar Songs) 
Richard Strauss, Three songs of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet
Johannes Brahms, «Fünf Ophelia-Lieder» (Five Ophelia songs)
Johannes Brahms, «2 Gesänge» Οp.91 (Two songs)
Leoš Janáček, «Říkadla» (Nursery Rhymes)
Antonín Dvořák, «Gypsy Songs» Οp.55 (επιλογή), ενορχήστρωση: Duncan Ward

• «Má píseň zas mi láskou zní» (My song sounds of love)
• «Široké rukávy» (Wide sleeves)
• «Me srdce casto» (My heart often broods in pain)
• «Žalo dievča, žalo trávu» (When a maiden was a-mowing)
• «Když mne stará matka» (Songs my mother taught me)
• «Struna naladěna» (The string is tuned)

Line-up:

Magdalena Kožená, mezzo-soprano
Sir Simon Rattle, piano
Giovanni Guzzo, violin
Rahel Rilling, violin
Amihai Grosz, viola
Dávid Adorján, cello
Kaspar Zehnder, flute
Andrew Marriner, clarinet

For ages 6+

Admission: €25, €15, €10 & €5 (reduced-rate ticket)

Reduced-rate tickets (€5) are available for students, seniors 65+, children and young people aged 6–18, unemployed, large families and Kallithea municipality residents.

Sale starting Monday 23/09 for SNFCC Members (specific number of seats).

Sale starting Tuesday 24/09 for the public.

Holders of reduced-rate tickets must present their identity card and relevant documents at the door (student card, unemployment card, large family card, disability certification, utility bill for Kallithea residents).

For more information, please contact SNFCC call center at +30 216 8091000.

The event is realized with the support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Alongside the core program of free-admission events, which continue to be provided free of charge thanks to grants from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center organizes a series of events for which a low admission fee applies. This aims to enable the SNFCC SA to diversify its income sources while ensuring its long-term financial robustness.