Ewa Podles, the Polish "true" contralto, born April 26, 1952 and passed on January 19, 2024, aged 71. Inasmuch as I have two absolutely favorite female types of singers: contralto and coloratura sopranos. (Actually I love all voice categories!) As the Gramophone magazine quoted her in a 2002 interview: "Now, every low female voice, they call themselves contralto. It is not true, a real contralto needs three octaves, with flexibility, almost three voices, you know, alto, soprano and something in between! I have something more than other voices like me: I have coloratura, and I want to benefit from this gift." When I think of true contraltos, several voices immediately come to mind, knowing them, of course, from recordings: Kathleen Ferrier, Dame Clara Butt, Marian Anderson and Aafje Heynis. Of singers more of our time, for me, Dame Janet Baker was one who came close to a true contralto in her lowest range even though she would be classified as a mezzo-soprano.
Podles didn't make a lot of recordings; she should have. One can find her on Dux, Forlane, Hänssler, Harmonia Mundi, Hyperion, and Naxos. On Decca, she recorded Gluck's Armide [live] to be found on "The Great Operas" [478 6899]. She recorded Chopin's songs with no less a pianist than Garrick Ohlsson for Hyperion in their 16 CD set [44351-66, all Chopin box].
The Podles voice is worth hearing and knowing. •
EWA PODLES, contralto dies
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Lance
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EWA PODLES, contralto dies
Lance G. Hill
Editor-in-Chief
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When she started to play, Mr. Steinway came down and personally
rubbed his name off the piano. [Speaking about pianist &*$#@+#]
Editor-in-Chief
______________________________________________________
When she started to play, Mr. Steinway came down and personally
rubbed his name off the piano. [Speaking about pianist &*$#@+#]
Re: EWA PODLES, contralto dies
Totally agree here, Lance! Podles was a force of nature!
We saw her in her MET debut paired with Marilyn Horne in Handel's "Rinaldo," a lovely farce. She was a fine partner for Horne, and she blew my mind with her stunningly accurate coloratura just when I was studying vocal technique and had become hyper-aware of these things in the early 1980s.
My favorite DVD of hers is Massenet's Cendrillon, also starring Joyce DiDonato. Podles' stage presence as her comical mother is priceless!
Another recording I can recommend would be her recording of Rossini arias on Naxos, although strangely the conductor insisted on minimal if any ornamentation:
And finally, there is this one with Handel arias:
Podles had a fine career, it's true, but she deserved much more recognition. She was a true coloratura contralto with a magnificent stage presence.
We saw her in her MET debut paired with Marilyn Horne in Handel's "Rinaldo," a lovely farce. She was a fine partner for Horne, and she blew my mind with her stunningly accurate coloratura just when I was studying vocal technique and had become hyper-aware of these things in the early 1980s.
My favorite DVD of hers is Massenet's Cendrillon, also starring Joyce DiDonato. Podles' stage presence as her comical mother is priceless!
Another recording I can recommend would be her recording of Rossini arias on Naxos, although strangely the conductor insisted on minimal if any ornamentation:
And finally, there is this one with Handel arias:
Podles had a fine career, it's true, but she deserved much more recognition. She was a true coloratura contralto with a magnificent stage presence.
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