Magdalena Kožená has won the Thalia Award in the opera category for the title role in Handel’s Alcina at the National Theatre Brno. In the production, the mezzo-soprano portrayed the sorceress Alcina, the central character in Handel’s opera. An award is also going to Brno City Theatre in the musical category, where Marco Salvadori was honoured for his portrayal of Nicholas Winton in the musical Winton, with the jury also taking into account his performance as Enjolras in Les Misérables.
Brno-born Magdalena Kožená is one of the most sought-after singers of her generation. Her standing is reflected in numerous awards at home and abroad, as well as in a successful discography for Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, EMI Classics, Linn Records and Pentatone. Alcina marked Kožená’s return to the Czech opera stage – and specifically to her native Brno, where she began her career.
Magdalena Kožená is a regular guest at the world’s leading concert halls and major festivals. Over the course of her career, she has performed with many of the world’s foremost orchestras under conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Jiří Bělohlávek, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Mariss Jansons, Sir Charles Mackerras and Sir Roger Norrington. Her recital partners at the piano have included Daniel Barenboim, Kirill Gerstein, András Schiff, Yefim Bronfman and Mitsuko Uchida. Her affinity for early music is also evident in performances with leading period-instrument ensembles including the Venice Baroque Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Il Giardino Armonico and Collegium 1704.
Marco Salvadori is one of the leading figures of the younger generation of Czech musical theatre. Born in Kroměříž in 1995, he studied musical theatre at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno.
foto web MdB
This year he received a Thalia Award nomination in the category of musical, operetta and other music-theatre genres. He was nominated for his portrayal of Nicholas Winton in Brno City Theatre’s original musical Winton, with the jury also taking into account his performance as Enjolras in Les Misérables. In its assessment of his portrayal of Winton, the jury highlighted the combination of vocal assurance and understated acting, as well as his ability to capture both the character’s inner strength and vulnerability. “Marco Salvadori gives a balanced performance as Winton, combining vocal assurance with convincing, understated acting,” Luboš Mareček told Brno – City of Music about Salvadori’s role.
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