The Berlioz marked the Philharmonic debut of Magdalena Kožená, whose participation in the Peter Sellars-Simon Rattle production of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at the Park Avenue Armory two years ago attracted much favorable comment, and whose disc of French opera arias is one of the best things of its kind in decades. In this performance, she was vivid and energetic, and both the audience and the orchestra plainly loved her.
© Christopher Johnson
