MAGDALENA KOZENA

Songs My Mother Taught Me

 

TRADITIONAL

[1] Kebych bola jahodú

 

LEOŠ JANÁÈČK (1854–1928)

from “Moravská lidová poezie v písních (Moravian Folk

Poetry in Songs)", 53 folksong arrs., c1892-1901:

[2] 37. Lavečka (Bench)

[3] 12. Jabúčko

[4] 50. Muzikanti [Musicians]

 

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841–1904)

from “Cikánské melodie (Zigeunermelodien)" (Heyduk), op. 55, 1880:

[5] 4. Kdyz mne stará matka (Als die alte Mutter, Songs my mother taught me)

[6] 5. Struna naladěna (Rein gestimmt die Saiten)

[7] 3. A les je tichy kolem kol (Rings ist der Wald so stumm und still)

 

ERWIN SCHULHOFF (1894–1942)

from “Národní písne a tance z Tesinksa (Folksongs and Dances from the Tesinskso Region)“, WV120

[8] 3. Pasala volky (Out in the beechwood) (Národní písne a tance)

[9] 15. Kdyz jsem byla mamince na kline (On my mother's knee)

[10] 4. Sidej na vuz

 

PETR EBEN (1929–2007)

from “Písne K Loutne“

[11] 1. Milovánie bez vídánie

[12] 2. I dare not ask

[13] 3. Quand ce beau printemps

[14] 4. Ach Gott, wie weh tut scheiden

[15] 5. Jakz sem te najprv poznal

[16] 6. Stratilat sem milého

 

JAN JOSEF RÖSLER (1771–1813)

[17] An die Entfernte

 

VÍTEZSLAV NOVÁK (1870–1949)

selection from “Pohádka Srdce (Märchen des Herzens)",

5 songs, op. 8, 1896

[18] 1. Píseň melancholická

[19] 2. Zda není snem? (transposed)

[20] 3. Večer

[21] 4. Podzimní nálada

[22] 5. Až prejde den

 

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

from “Večerní písně (Evening Songs)" (V. Hálek), op. 3, 1876:

[23] 2 Mně zdálo se žes umřela (I dreamt that you were dead)

 

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

from “Moravské dvojzpěvy (Moravian Duets)", 1876:

[24] 9. Prsten

[25] 11. Zajatá

 

BOHUSLAV MARTINU (1890–1959)

from “Písnicky na dve stránky (Songs on two pages, seven songs an Moravian folk poetry)“

[26] 1. Devce z Moravy (Moravian Girl)

[27] 2. Súsedova stajna (The Neighbour's Stable)

[28] 3. Nadeje (Hope)

[29] 4. Hlásný (The Night Watchman)

[30] 5. Tajná láska (Secret Love)

[31] 6. Bozi muka (The Wayside Cross)

[32] 7. Zvolenovci chlapci (Lads of Zvolyn)

 

LEOŠ JANÁČEK

from “Slezské písně (ze sbírky Heleny Salichové)

(Silesian Songs (from Helena Salichová's

Collection))", 10 folksong arrs., 1918 (Brno, 1920)

[33] 7. Aj co to je za slaviček

[34] 10. V černym lese

 

EXCLUSIVE iTUNES BONUS TRACK:

ADAM VÁCLAV MICHNA Z OTRADOVIC (C 1600–1676)

from “Loutna česká (The Czech lute)", 1653

[35] Začněte, panny, spívati

 

NON-EXCLUSIVE DIGITAL BONUS TRACK:

LEOPOLD KOZELUCH

from “Ariette“

[35] 3. Sento amor

 

Magdalena Kožená - mezzo-soprano, Dorothea Röschmann - soprano, Michael Freimuth - lute and guitar, Malcolm Martineau - piano

 

Magdalena Kožená, one of the most acclaimed recitalists of today, presents a personal collection of songs she has known since childhood and that form some of her earliest musical influences

 

A haunting collection of songs by Czech composers such as Dvořák, Janáček, Martinů, Schulhoff and Eben, all deeply rooted in the rich Czech folk song tradition

 

Like Magdalena explains in the press/booklettext about the songs on the album: “They are just the sort a mother would sing to her baby. My mother is not a professional singer, but she loved to sing and knew a lot of songs! There is a particular tradition of singing to children in our country, much stronger, I would say, than one sees any more in the West. It was really important that in each family these songs would be handed down, taught to the children.”

 

Kožená’s musical partners on the album include her long-standing recital partner Malcolm Martineau, and soprano Dorothea Röschmann, who joins her in Dvořák’s Moravian duets. This is Magdalena Kožená’s most personal album so far, exploring the richness of her cultural background and her own musical memories

 

DG 4776665