“I want my singing to have drama, to send a message, sometimes people cry when they hear me-this is what's important. I want people to love me or hate me because of the emotion of my singing” Ewa Podles

Wigmore Hall Live proudly presents an all-Russian and Polish recital by the enigmatic Ewa Podles, widely regarded as the world’s leading contralto and one of the true great singers of our time.

Recorded live at Wigmore Hall on 23 January 2008, this release marked Ewa Podles´ return to the Wigmore Hall stage after an absence of sixteen years.

With her unique, dramatic voice of staggering range, agility and amplitude, Ewa Podles gives the kind of towering performance that has come to be expected of an artist who has acquired cult status and a near-fanatical following within the operatic world.

In addition to her rigorous operatic calendar, which notably includes her highly-publicised return this year to the Metropolitan Opera Stage after twenty-four years, Podles´ is one of the most acclaimed recital and concert performers in the world.

Accompanying Podles´ is the distinguished Garrick Ohlsson, whose solo performance of Szymanowski’s Masques “was a mastery display of sustained and imaginative virtuosity, matching the singer’s” Opera Now