Debussy & Messiaen: L’Extase (CD) – Magdalena Kožená

Composers: Claude Debussy, Olivier Messiaen
Artist: Magdalena Kožená, Mitsuko Uchida
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Pentatone
Release Date: March 25, 2025

With mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená and pianist Mitsuko Uchida, two world stars join hands on L’extase, a collection of songs by Claude Debussy and Olivier Messiaen. Debussy was Messiaen’s lifelong idol, and their songs are equally colorful, sumptuous, sensual, and occasionally exotic. The album derives its name from the sultry song “C’est l’extase langoureuse” from Debussy’s “Ariettes oubliées,” and this song cycle is combined with his “Chansons de Bilitis” and “Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire,” while Messiaen is represented by the second book of his “Poèmes pour Mi,” a declaration of love for his first wife, Claire Delbos. 

This recording demonstrates the profound affinity of both performers with French music, as well as their congeniality as musical partners. With L’extase, star mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená presents the seventh album of her exclusive collaboration with Pentatone, after having presented Il giardino dei sospiri, Soirée (both 2019), Nostalgia (2021), Folk Songs (2023), the title role in Handel’s Alcina, and Czech Songs (both 2024). 

One of the most revered artists of our time, Mitsuko Uchida is known as a peerless interpreter of the works of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, and Beethoven, as well as for being a devotee of the piano music of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and György Kurtág. She makes her Pentatone debut.

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