biography

Born in the Czech city of Brno, Magdalena Kožená studied voice and piano at the Brno Conservatory and at Bratislava’s Academy of Performing Arts.
Magdalena signed as an exclusive artist with Deutsche Grammophon in 1999 and has since been awarded multiple prizes for her albums including Gramophone’s Solo Vocal Award, Gramophone’s Artist of the Year, Echo Klassik, Record Academy Prize Tokyo, and Diapason d’or. In 2017, Magdalena forged a long-term relationship with Dutch label Pentatone and her recordings include the baroque Il giardino dei sospiri, the chamber Soirée, Nostalgia with the famous pianist Yefim Bronfman or the fresh pair of albums Folk Songs and Czech Songs, on which Magdalena is accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.
During her illustrious career, Magdalena has worked with the world’s leading conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Gustavo Dudamel, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Mariss Jansons, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Simon Rattle or Sir Roger Norrington. Her list of distinguished recital partners includes the pianists Daniel Barenboim, Malcolm Martineau, András Schiff and Mitsuko Uchida, with whom she has performed at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and at the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh and Salzburg festivals. Magdalena’s understanding of historical performance practices has been cultivated in collaboration with outstanding period- instrument ensembles, including the Venice Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Il Giardino Armonico, Les Musiciens du Louvre, La Cetra Barockorchester Basel, and Le Concert d’Astrée. She is also in demand as soloist with the Berlin, Vienna and Czech Philharmonics, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Cleveland, Philadelphia and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestras.
Magdalena was appointed a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2003 for her services to French music. At the beginning of 2016, Magdalena decided to support Czech art schools as a unique concept of arts education by establishing an Endowment fund bearing her name.
Magdalena’s 2024/25 season begins with a return to Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks for concert performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and later in the season she looks forward to revisiting another favourite ensemble, the Czech Philharmonic, in a classical programme with Giovanni Antonini and for Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins with Sir Simon Rattle. Magdalena goes on tour with La Cetra Barockensemble and Andrea Marcon with a programme centred on the role of Alcina which takes her to Tonhalle Zurich, Bratislava Festival, Concertgebouw Bruges and Istanbul. Other notable performances of the season include debut appearances with Kammerakademie Potsdam, Hamburg Symphoniker, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt and Arctic Philharmonic. Magdalena ends her season as Donna Elvira in Festival d’Aix-en-Provence’s new production of Don Giovanni.
September 2024