Customer Reviews

Ewa Podles · Russian Arias

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The first time I heard Ewa Podles was in a live performance of Verdi's "Requiem". After that I've been buying all her records and trying to hear her live. I still don't understand how she is still ignored by the major record companies...
This CD of russian arias could not be rated less than extraordinary: if the voice itself wasn't enough - and it is more than enough - the interpretation would.

This disc is altogether delectable. With few exceptions, Russian opera is little known or appreciated in this country. Perhaps, if it always had interpreters as stupendously capable as Ewa Podles, the story might be different. She is a true contralto, and, as such, more than capable of bringing appropriate power, flexibility and idiomatic darkness to these largely unfamiliar arias. Even more impressively, she uses her magnificent talent to get inside the character of each piece. The result is a virtuoso variety of texture. The sumptuous richness of her sound makes even the finest counter-tenors seem rather thin-voiced. Do not let the unfamiliarity of most of the pieces put you off. Full translations are provided, with the Russian being helpfully rendered in Roman letters. So, let this superrb and thrilling singer introduce you to some very fine music.

Una voz tan impresionante como la de esta mujer, me deja sólo agradeciendo que exista, o que haya existido alguna vez, y que haya respirado, al mismo tiempo que yo, en este planeta. Por lo tanto, recomiendo absolutamente todo material que ella grabe. Es un placer, un poco de luz en medio de tanta oscuridad.

Ewa Podles' voice is incredibly rich, her technic is astonishing and she sings so expressively that really brings tears in my eyes. She is definitely a diva and performs these wonderful pieces the way they should be performed. The booklet includes libretto with English translation, which is very helpful for those who don't speak Russian. However, the music and the performance are so emotive that can touch you even if you do't know the words.

There is simply NO BETTER recording of "Songs and Dances of Death" by Mussorgsky. Ewa Podles voice in Lullaby makes your blood freeze in your veins; her interpretation of Death is terribly beautiful. It adds to the effect knowing that in Russian "death" is a feminine word, contrary to Latin languages, so a female voice singing for both the Mother and Death is stunning.

One can compare this with also a very good recording by Sergei Leiferkus or a much worse one by Brigitte Fassbaender. Alas, Russian cannot be sung properly by those who are not linked to that language, and since Ewa Podles is Polish, her pronunciation is as good as Russian. And her voice caps it all; she is a stunning, amazing diva; the adulation she receives fro her unique range and beauty of her tone, mastery of her tuning is well-demonstrated by this opus.

Truly this is the best "Songs and Dances"; HIGHLY recommended for Russian music lovers.

For some resn, this disc is strangely unappealing. The voice is of course great, but when she made this record, she was rather short on communication, an just seems like a reading of rather dull music. I would pass