Monthly Archives: June 2024

Episode 269. Alberta Hunter

June 27, 2024African American Singers, Black History Month, Black History Month 2024, Broadway, Comic Relief, Forgotten Divas, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Spirituals, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAaron Bell, Al Casey, Al Hall, Al Matthews, Alberta Hunter, Allie Moore, Benjamin Frankel, Bessie Smith, Billy Butler, Budd Johnson, Buster Bailey, Butch Miles, Carl Falck, Charles Shavers, Clarence Williams, Cliff Jackson, Connie Kay, Darnell Howard, Doc Cheatham, Eddie Heywood Jr., Eubie Blake, Fats Waller, Frank Wess, Gerald Cook, Henri Varna, Irving Berlin, J.C. Higginbotham, J.C. Johnson, Jack Jackson, Jackie Williams, James Bunting, James P. Johnson, Jasper Taylor, Jimmy Archey, Jimmy Lewis, John Hammond, Leroy Jones, Lew Pollack, Lil Armstrong, Lovie Austin, Mike Jackson, Norris Turney, Paul Francis Webster, Pops Foster, Radio Parade of 1935, Richard Jones, Rudolf Sieczyński, Sam Clanton, Sidney de Paris, Vic Dickenson, Vincent Scotto, Vishnu Wood, W.C. Handy, Wally Richardson, Wellman Braud, Zutty Singletoncountermelody

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Please join me today for this overview of the roller coaster career of Alberta Hunter (01 April 1895 – 17 October 1984), a jazz legend whose surprising and extraordinary life was shaped by a voice that simply personified the Blues. Early in her life, around the time she was 15, she fled her native Memphis for Chicago, where, with tenacity, grit, and ambition, she became the darling of the night club circuit, performing sometimes under tommy-gun-adjacent circumstances. She soon made her way to Broadway and, following the lead of her compatriots, Joséphine Baker, Adelaide Hall, Florence Mills, and Elisabeth Welch, to Paris and London, where she was the toast of the town and appeared as Queenie opposite Paul Robeson in the original London production of Show Boat. Later during and after World War II she became a fixture of the USO circuit. Following the death of her mother, she abandoned her performing career and took up nursing in her sixties. After her enforced retirement twenty years later, through a set of freaky coincidences, she made a miraculous return to live performing at the age of 82 and became an overnight sensation, the toast of three continents. She always returned to her ongoing residency at a club in the Village called The Cookery, the venue where the final chapter of her career began. She continued to perform and record until shortly before her death just before her 90th birthday. Though she lived her life discreetly and never came out overtly, she nevertheless was involved with women throughout her life and formed her strongest emotional and romantic bonds with them. Sassy, raunchy, and gritty on the surface, Hunter possessed a voice and ingratiating style of such honesty, humor, and character, that masked a modesty hidden beneath that brash exterior, and a musical sensibility that dazzles with its ease, subtlety, and complexity. Featured musical excerpts, both studio and live, extend over more than 60 years and include collaborations with such jazz giants as Eubie Blake, Fats Waller, Lovie Austin, Charlie Shavers, and producer John Hammond and includes a clip from her appearance in the British film Radio Parade of 1935.

Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel’s lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody’s core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody’s Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available exclusively to Patreon supporters are currently available and further bonus content including interviews and livestreams is planned for the upcoming season.

Episode 268. Will Parker Redux

June 26, 2024Art Song, Great Baritones, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Queer Pride, Twentieth Century MusicAaron Copland, André Emelianoff, Banalités, Benjamin Hudson, Billy Budd, Carol Zeavin, Charles Wakefield Cadman, Claude Debussy, Columbia String Quartet, Elly Ameling, Ernst Bacon, Francis Poulenc, Georg Friedrich Daumer, Gerard van Blerk, Guillaume Apollinaire, Herman Melville, Janet Hill, Johannes Brahms, John Jacob Niles, Le promenoir des deux amants, Norman Shetler, Old American Songs, Robert Evett, Rudolf Jansen, Thomas Merton, Tristan L’Hermite, Virgil Blackwell, William Huckaby, William Parkercountermelody

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Today I revisit the life and legacy of lyric baritone William Parker (05 August 1943 – 29 March 1993), to whom I devoted an episode exactly a year ago. To further explore his unmatched contribution to the art of song, I present a second episode which was originally published as a bonus episode at the same time, featuring Will in four contrasting song cycles by Charles Wakefield Cadman, Claude Debussy, Aaron Copland, and Francis Poulenc, recorded between 1975 and 1987, when he was in his absolute prime. He is accompanied by William Huckaby, Gérard van Blerk, and the late Rudolf Jansen. Also included are two haunting settings of Herman Melville’s “Billy in the Darbies,” a segment added posthumously to his Billy Budd novella; in two settings by Robert Evett and Ernst Bacon. The episode is prefaced by a brief tribute to the pianist Norman Shetler, who died yesterday in Austria nine days after observing his 93rd birthday; as well as a brief introduction by Will Parker’s nephew, Mark Doty.

Episode 267. A Cavalcade of Pop Contraltos

June 21, 2024African American Singers, Art Song, Black History Month 2024, Broadway, Crossover, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAdolph Green, Alain Oulman, Alexandre O’Neill, Alice Faye, Amália Rodrigues, Angela Bofill, Annie Lennox, Astor Piazzolla, Barbara, Bertice Reading, Bessie Smith, Betty Carter, Betty Comden, Bob Cranshaw, Bonnie Bramlett, Bronislaw Kaper, Burt Bacharach, Castreo Mota, Cher, Chico Feltosa, Clarence Williams, Claudio Monteverdi, Connee Boswell, Cyrus St. Clair, Damia, Domingos Carmarinha, Donald Pippin, Dorothy Fields, Ed Allen, Edward Heyman, Eric Tappy, F. Suarez Paz, Felicia Sanders, Floyd Cramer, Fran Landeman, Françoise Hardy, Frank Eyton, Freddie Mercury, Frédéric Chopin, George Martine, Georges Auric, Gian Francesco Busenello, Guy Bontempelli, Gwen Avery, Hank Cochran, Harlan Howard, Harold Marbern, Harry Carroll, Hector Console, Helen Deutsch, Hélène Cambier, Henri Lapointe, Herbig Mann, Irma Valecillo, Irving Berlin, Irving Joseph, J.C. Johnson, James Purdy, Jeri Southern, Jimmie Grier, Jimmy Cox, Jimmy Jones, Jimmy McHugh, Jodie Devos, John Lennon, Johnny Green, Joseph McCarthy, Joss Baselli, Jule Styne, Karen Carpenter, Kate Smith, Kurt Weill, L’incoronazione di Poppea, Leon Russell, Libby Holman, Lisa Kirk, Louis Poterat, Luiz Carlos Vinhas, Luther Henderson, Maria Bethânia, Marlene Dietrich, Martinho d’Assuncao, Mary Watkins, Max Colpet, Max Greger, Maxwell Anderson, Melanie Safka, Michele Trejo, Milva, Pablo Ziegler, Patsy Cline, Paul Sperry, Pete Seeger, Peter Knight, Peter Schekeryk, Pierre Nicolas, Polly Bergen, Prince, Raymond Leppard, Richard Carpenter, Richard Hundley, Robert Sour, Roy McCurdy, Sarah Vaughan, Sotiria Bellou, Tatiana Troyanos, Ted Grouya, Tina Turner, Tommy Wolf, Vassilis Tsitsanis, Wal-Berg, William Engvickcountermelody

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My intention this week to produce a joyous new episode further celebrating contraltos, was undermined by multiple deaths this past week in the musical world, including French pop icon Françoise Hardy, Swiss tenor Eric Tappy, American art song icon Paul Sperry, and R&B diva Angela Bofill, capped by the tragic demise of young Belgian coloratura soprano Jodie Devos of breast cancer at the age of only 35. The episode, thus, begins with brief musical excerpts from all of these recently departed artists. In the main episode, I spread the contralto net even wider than last time, focusing on low-voiced doyennes of popular song. We hear jazz singers (Betty Carter, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae); stars of stage, screen, and radio (Marlene Dietrich, Polly Bergen, Connee Boswell, Alice Faye, Lisa Kirk, Kate Smith); purveyors of the Blues (Bessie Smith, Bertice Reading); French cabaret singers (Damia, Barbara); fado, rebetika, and tango artists (Amália Rodrigues, Milva, Maria Bethânia, Sotiria Bellou); and late-20th century pop icons (Cher, Tina Turner, Karen Carpenter, Annie Lennox); with a few delightful surprises along the way. I should also note, in honor of Pride Month, that more than a few of these artists flaunted societal norms regarding their affectional preferences, living either furtively or openly at a time when such expressions could have serious consequences. I love putting this kind of episode together and I hope that you enjoy the kaleidoscopic sounds that emerge from the throats of these deep-voiced pop divas.

Episode 266. Sisters in Sapho (Listeners’ Favorites)

June 14, 2024African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Crossover, Drag Performance, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, Gustav Mahler, Ileana Cotrubas, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Margaret Price, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Operetta, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Queer Pride, Richard Strauss, Schubert, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAchille de Lauzières, Achim von Arnim, Aida, Alban Berg, Aldous Huxley, Alessandro Scarlatti, Alfred Hennequin, Alfred-Charlemagne Delacour, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Aribert Reimann, Ariodante, Arleen Augér, Auguste Mariette, Bernice Johnson Reagon, BIGLovely, Brigitte Fassbaender, Camille du Locle, Carl Mathieu Lange, Cecilia Gasdia, Clemens Brentano, Cord Garben, Cosi fan tutte, Cris Williamson, Deidre McCalla, Der Rosenkavalier, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Don Carlo, Donato Renzetti, Dusty Springfield, Erik Werba, Felice Romani, Felix Mendelssohn, Ferron, Francesco Cavalli, Frank Wedekind, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Cerha, Friedrich Schiller, George Frideric Handel, Georges Pretre, Giovanni Faustini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gundula Janowitz, Gustav Mahler, Heinrich Heine, Heinrich von Waldberg, Holly Near, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Ileana Cotrubas, James Levine, Janet Baker, Janis Ian, Johann Gabriel Seidl, John Wustman, Joseph Méry, Konstantin Balmont, Krzysztof Penderecki, Kurt Eichhorn, Kurt Weill, La Calisto, La Clemenza di Tito, Lorenzo da Ponte, Lulu, Marek Janowski, Margaret Price, Margie Adam, Maurice Ravel, Meg Christian, Meshell Ndegenocello, Nicolai Gedda, Pietro Metastasio, Raymond Leppard, Reri Grist, Riccardo Muti, Richard Heuberger, Richard Strauss, Robert Lloyd, Ronnie Gilbert, Serge Rachmaninov, Tatiana Troyanos, Toshi Reagon, Victor Léon, Vincenzo Bellini, Walter Mehring, Willy Mattes, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Sawallischcountermelody

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It’s been a whirlwind of a week chez Gundlach and I find myself at the end of it without a new episode ready to post. In addition to that, we are already halfway through Pride Month and I realized this morning that I had no new queer material up my sleeve. So I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do: I am going to get to work on a brand new episode which will post sometime early next week. But in the meantime, I’m going to do my own Listener’s Favorite episode, one which I posted during the very first season of Countermelody, a wondrous compilation entitled “Sisters in Sappho.” It features not only two of my favorite mezzos of all time (Tatiana Troyanos and Brigitte Fassbaender – both of whom happen to have been lesbians); but also a sampling of the key figures in the Women’s Music Movement of the 1970s, including Meg Christian, Cris Williamson, Margie Adam, Holly Near, and Deidre McCalla. In celebrating these pop icons, I also pay tribute to those who, in turn, paved the way for them, including icons Janis Ian, Dusty Springfield, and Ronnie Gilbert, as well as tipping my hat to two of the queer Black singers (Toshi Reagon, Meshell Ndegeocello), that followed in the wake of these women. We all owe an enormous debt of gratitude to these extraordinary artists, who paved the way for us, their musical and artistic descendants, at the same time setting standards that will stand the test of time. Vocal guest stars include Janet Baker, Ileana Cotrubas, Cecilia Gasdia, Nicolai Gedda, Margaret Price, Gundula Janowitz, Arleen Augér, and Reri Grist.

Episode 265. Meet Hana Janků

June 6, 2024Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlexander Pushkin, Amilcare Ponchielli, Antonín Dvořák, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Arrigo Boito, Barry McDaniel, Bedřich Smetana, Carlo Gozzi Turandot, Carol Smith, Cornell MacNeil, Dalibor, Ervín Špindler, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Franco Corelli, František Jílek, Gabriela Preissová, Gaetano Bardini, Giacomo Puccini, Giorgio Merighi, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Patanè, Giuseppe Verdi, Hana Janků, Hana Svobodová, Hana Svobodová-Janků, Heinrich von Kleist, Il Trovatore, Jan Štych, Jaroslav Krombholc, Jaroslav Vrchlický, Jenůfa, Jirí Pinkas, Josef Wenzig, Karl Vüllings, La Gioconda, Le nozze di Figaro, Leos Janacek, Libuše, Lorenzo da Ponte, Luigi Illica, Modest Tchaikovsky, Naděžda Kniplová, Oldrich Pipek, Othmar Schoeck, Penthesilea, Pierre Beaumarchais, Pique-Dame, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Roland Hermann, Salvadore Cammarano, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Torquato Tasso, Tosca, Victor Hugo, Victorien Sardou, William Holley, William Wu, Wolf Appel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Zdeněk Mácal, Zubin Mehtacountermelody

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Have you ever encountered a singer that no one has apparently heard of, yet once you have discovered them, you feel compelled to introduce them to practically everyone you know? I’ve had this experience more than a few times over the past five years of producing weekly Countermelody episodes, and today I bring you another such singer: friends, meet Hana Janků, the Czech soprano who lived from 25 October 1940 to 28 April 1995. Her voice is one of steely brilliance that she can taper down to the slightest whisper of a pianissimo. As important as her extraordinary voice was her profoundly-felt and deeply-etched characterizations of all the roles she assumed. As a young music lover, Hana’s aims were modest, but thanks to a voice teacher who recognized her gift, she moved from the chorus to a member of the ensemble at the Brno Opera before she was 20. Five years later in Bratislava, she first performed the role with which she would be most closely associated: Puccini’s Turandot. Two short years later, after an arduous audition process, she sang the role at La Scala and became a star overnight. Her large repertoire also encompassed roles such Tosca, Gioconda, and Lady Macbeth, French and Russian operas as well as Mozart and Wagner roles, with a large smattering of roles by Czech composers as well, in particular Smetana and Dvořák. Because of political unrest, she made the difficult decision to leave her native Czechoslovakia, performing instead throughout the world, including stints in the ensembles at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Ill health forced her to leave the opera stage prematurely, and she died of cancer in Vienna before she turned 55. Janků left very few commercial recordings, but I have been plumbing the internet for rare live recordings spanning her entire career, encompassing not only her legendary Italian roles, but also roles by Mozart, Gounod, and Othmar Schoeck, as well as a smattering of Czech repertoire. It is an honor to present to you the woman whom Birgit Nilsson dubbed the finest Turandot of her era and who was, as we shall hear, so much more as well! Vocal guest stars include Franco Corelli, Giorgio Merighi, Cornell MacNeil, Roland Hermann, William Holley, and Naděžda Kniplová.