I first heard Ewa Podles
as the eponymous hero on Naxos’s outstanding
1994 complete recording of Rossini’s
Tancredi idiomatically conducted by
Rossini scholar Alberto Zedda. Her steady
sonorous contralto was ideally suited
to this ‘breeches’ role. The following
year she recorded a Rossini recital
for Naxos (8.553543) that was also widely
acclaimed, its contents having much
in common with this 1998 live recording,
the major difference being the inclusion
of Arsace’s recitative and cavatina
from ‘Semiramide’ (tr. 2) whilst missing
the ‘Cenerentola’ excerpts. In respect
of the contents of this disc, I have
given them as listed on the back of
the booklet, jewel case and slipcase.
In reality the descriptions are of the
aria and not the whole of the excerpt.
Thus track 1, shown as ‘Di tanti palpiti’,
actually starts at the beginning of
Scene 5 of the opera with the 1 min
33 seconds of introductory music, followed
by the secco recitative ‘Oh patria!
Dolce e ingrata patria’, the aria proper
starting at 5 min 09 seconds and concluding,
in pretty standard time, at 8 min 05
secs.
Tracks 1-4 are all
of breeches parts, Tancredi, Arsace,
Calbo and Malcom, the latter (tr. 4)
as the hero in Rossini’s adaptation
of Scott’s novel ‘The Lady of the Lake’.
Here Podles’s weight of tone and characterization
are significantly better than Cecilia
Bartoli on the first (1989) of her Rossini
recital discs (Decca). In all these
parts Podles’s voice is rich-toned with
the nut-brown centre intensely sonorous
and steady, the low notes of the voice
being part of her very wide range and
not of a gravelly sounding forced chest
register (7.37 min of tr. 2). In these
breeches roles this vocal quality allows
Podles easily to convey the male character
involved. I have spent some happy time
comparing her vocal interpretation and
characterization of Tancredi, Calbo
and Malcom with those of the redoubtable
Marilyn Horne in her complete recordings
of the works. I can pay Podles no greater
compliment than to say that she emerges
even higher in my estimation from these
comparisons.
After a well-shaped
overture to ‘Il Barbiere’ (tr. 5) Podles
tackles two of Rossini’s spunky ladies,
Rosina (tr. 6) and Isabella (trs. 7-8).
In these excerpts the tessitura is significantly
higher than for the earlier breeches
parts; indeed Rosina has been sung on
record by the agile lyric soprano voice
of Victoria de los Angeles. If Podles
cannot quite manage that agility she
certainly encompasses the range. In
Isabella’s two arias from ‘L’Italiana
in Algeri’ we are back in true mezzo
territory, and while I find Agnes Baltsa’s
tangy voice wholly admirable on the
complete recording (DG), Podles doesn’t
disappoint me here either.
The booklet includes
notes in English and Polish on the ‘Wratislava
Cantans’, Podles herself and the conductor.
There is abbreviated applause between
numbers whilst the recording is well
balanced with plenty of air and ambient
warmth around both the orchestra and
the voice. In earlier decades Podles’s
exceptional vocal gifts would have meant
an extended discography of works by
Rossini, Gluck and others. In their
absence this fine recital should be
added to the shelves of lovers of fine
singing.
Robert J Farr
Ewa Podles (contralto) 