A Fanboy at the Philharmonic
Music
My first encounter with the Czech soprano Magdalena Kožená came about when I stumbled on a video of her singing Bach’s Cantata No. 199, performed in 2000. Over the years her pristine voice has darkened, leading to such lustrous recordings as “Love and Longing” (2012), with songs by Dvořák, Ravel and Mahler, but the shimmering quality is thrilling.