Mission accomplished.(Viewpoint)(recital by Ewa Podles, New York, New York)(Concert Review)

The most telling moments of a recital program are often its encores. How many will there be? How many languages can an artist flash and juggle? Will there be a costume change? Will a highly serious program finish on a low-comedy note? Will a classical star "cross over" into pop right before our very eyes? (Has anyone else noticed that the expression we use to denote this particular repertoire shift is also a nineteenth-century euphemism for peaceful death?)

A recital's encores are supposed to represent some sort of spontaneous combustion between artist and audience, an unplanned mini-celebration of the music-making that's already been shared. The entire recital--whether announced from the stage or printed in the program--should be of a piece. All too often, encores turn into an apologia for what's gone before; however charming, however well-delivered, the encore material sends an unmistakable flag of musical truce: "Okay, for the past two hours I sang what I'm supposed to do --here's the stuff I really like."

In November 2001, Ewa Podles gave an unforgettable Manhattan recital, in tandem with pianist Garrick Ohlsson. The program of Slavic art songs and Scriabin etudes was rapturously received by the crowd at Alice Tully Hall, and deservedly so. Both artists were in extraordinary form that day, with Podles a paradigm of communicative warmth, interpretive imagination and good old-fashioned star quality. Her virtuoso ...