Lady Rattle lands a label deal
mainThe Dutch label Pentatone has signed the Berlin-based Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená for what is described as ‘a long-term partnership.’
She will record several albums, from Baroque opera to contemporary art song, from Rameau to Berio.
from the press release:
The Czech mezzo-soprano spent time in the recording studio this past summer and documented a selection of heart-wrenchingly beautiful songs from her homeland by Dvořák and Janáček, coupled with some of the repertoire’s most famous melodies, including Strauss’ eternal Morgen!, Chausson’s poetic Chanson perpétuelle and Brahms’ Two Songs, Op. 91 – some of them in new arrangements. Joining her were her husband, Sir Simon Rattle, in his first-ever appearance as a pianist on record, and six of their closest colleagues: Wolfram Brandl and Rahel Rilling on violin, Yulia Deyneka on viola, Dávid Adorján on cello, Andrew Marriner on clarinet and Kaspar Zehnder on flute.
…meaning DG fired her for not selling??
She does a charming Berio Sequenza.
D.G., Pentatone or the Fray Bentos label, it doesn’t really matter. She is a wonderful singer whose records I’d buy no matter who was issuing them.
Never mind that this blog ignores the blatant sexism of referring to a world-famous woman as merely the wife of her husband…”Lady Rattle?” Really?
Absolutely. She was a fine and well-established singer well before she married Sir Simon.
Snowflakes.
Rude. No, it’s just common decency. Would you want to be referred to only as your other half’s partner?
It is quite possible, Pentatone is courting Sir Simon with this deal.
He could have good for use a dedicated high quality label with a tradition of production quality and distribution network, that easily surpasses LSO’s own label.
I would think it highly likely that his LSO contract would not allow him to sign for another record label, at least for orchestral music.
Well, that’s my faith in Pentatone shattered.