Audiences in six European capitals rewarded with enthusiastic applause the concert staging of Handel's Alcina with Magdalena in the title role, a plethora of outstanding soloists and Les Musiciens de Louvre under the baton of the father of the whole project, conductor Marc Minkowski.
Paris, Bordeaux, Hamburg, Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. Everywhere, the magician Alcina managed to enchant even the professional critics.
For example:
"There were lots of mezzos in this ensemble but Kozena led the pack with a performance that was staggeringly beautiful, coarser when the character was crossed, and all around marvelous to listen to. She is a very demonstrative singer, with her arms--or her face--not stopping for a moment; she brought her dramatic skills to the forefront and was able to curry favor with the audience in a role that was hardly sympathetic at its core."
(Richard Sasanow, Broadway World)
Photo: (C) Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical (CNDM) / Rafa Martín
Make yourself comfortable and read reviews from other cities:
Paris: Olyrix , ForumOPERA , Conessi all´Opera
Bordeaux: Classiquenews , Toute La Culture
Hamburg: Abendblatt
Barcelona: operatraveller.com , Broadway World
Madrid: El País , Beckmesser
Valencia: Culturplaza
This production of Alcina will be released on CD early next year on the Pentatone label.