MITSUKO UCHIDA
AVAILABLE 6 JUNE 2025
L’extase: Debussy & Messiaen Songs
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 life-long idol, and their songs are equally colourful, 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 des Baudelaires, 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 for being a devotee of the piano music of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and György Kurtág. She makes her PENTATONE debut.
Mitsuko Uchida & Magdalena Kožená perform
Debussy: Ariettes oubliées : I. C’est l’extase
BIOGRAPHY
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 for being a devotee of the piano music of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and György Kurtág. She was Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2022, Music Director of the 2024 Ojai Music Festival, and is a Carnegie Hall Perspectives artist across the 2022/3, 2023/4 and 2024/5 seasons. Her latest recording, of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, was released to critical acclaim earlier this year, has been nominated for a Grammy® Award, and won the 2022 Gramophone Piano Award.
She has enjoyed close relationships over many years with the world’s most renowned orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and – in the US – the Chicago Symphony and The Cleveland Orchestra, with whom she recently celebrated her 100th performance at Severance Hall. Conductors with whom she has worked closely have included Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Andris Nelsons, Gustavo Dudamel, and Mariss Jansons.
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