I have been a great fan of Ewa Podleś ever since I discovered
her voice in the early nineties. She is that rare thing: a
real contralto d'agilità of ample volume,
with a ringing top C and a thunderous lower register, as equally
capable and thrilling in Rossini as she is in Verdi. I am ungracious
enough to observe that she is now well into her fifties and
a few signs of wear are creeping into that magnificent voice:
there is a permanent huskiness, a more pronounced, glottal
break between the two registers, and some looseness in its
vibrations. Nonetheless, this is still a fine instrument and
Madame Podleś can still deliver, as the response of her
audience confirms. I'm not sure, however, about the programme
recorded here: a concert performance with the Polish Radio
Symphony Orchestra on 14 December 2008 to celebrate, of all
things - and I quote: the "Bicentenary of the Faculty
of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw".
The fold-out CD wallet with full notes (biographies, synopses
and libretto) is attractively produced and clearly neither
the university nor the label, Dux, spared any expense, but
a programme with a rather obscure Haydn cantata at its centre
as the most substantial piece might constitute as great a deterrent
as it would an inducement for some prospective purchasers.
Having said that, “Arianna a Naxos" was considered
good enough by Janet Baker for an early Philips recital disc
with Leppard and the ECO, so who am I to argue, even if I don't
find it enthralling? The slight peculiarity (eclecticism?)
of the programming is compounded by the selection of an overture
by Beethoven, two by Rossini, two arias by Rossini, one by
Verdi and another by Donizetti. Hmmm...but why not, you may
ask? Well; you can catch Podleś in better, more youthful
voice singing the heck out of Rossini in her 1995 studio recital
for Naxos or on her later Dux Rossini disc and the playing
in the orchestral items is pleasant if undistinguished. It
is also a little odd and frustrating to hear the extended martial
passage leading into "Stride la vampa" played by
the orchestra but with no chorus - so no lusty cries of "La
zingarella!"
All in all, I am not quite sure why this disc exists except
as memento of a Warsaw event and as a chance to hear the great
Podleś briefly as Azucena and in Orsini's toast, a number
made famous by illustrious predecessors such as Dame Clara
Butt, Sigrid Onégin and Marilyn Horne - and, I must
admit, rather better sung by all of them than it is here. Fans
of Ewa Podleś might consider the slightly meagre helping
of their idol on offer here worth the full cost of this import
but I shall return to those discs which preserve her at her
very best.
Ralph Moore
Ewa
Podleś (alto) 
