Monthly Archives: August 2025

Episode 389. Rescue Mission (Operatic Duet Edition)

August 29, 2025African American Singers, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Ileana Cotrubas, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Opera in Translation, Renata Scotto, Rescue Mission, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Opera, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAntigonae, April Cantelo, Cardillac, Carl Maria von Weber, Carl Orff, Carlo Bergonzi, Carlo Franci, Carol Neblett, Christa Ludwig, Claude Debussy, Claudio Monteverdi, David Rendall, Deborah Voigt, Der Besuch der alten Dame, Der fliegende Holländer, Die Ägyptische Helena, Die drei Pintos, Don Giovanni, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Eberhard Wächter, Edda Moser, Elena Vink, Eugène Scribe, Fabio Luisi, Felice Romani, Fernand Lion, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Friedrich Hölderlin, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Badoaro, Giuseppe Verdi, Gottfried von Einem, Grace Bumbry, Gustav Mahler, Helen Donath, Horst Stein, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Ileana Cotrubas, Imre Pallo, John Bröcheler, John Pritchard, John Reardon, Jorma Hynninen, Julius Rudel, Kenneth Montgomery, L’elisir d’amore, Lanford Wilson, Lee Hoiby, Leo Blech, Lorenzo da Ponte, Lorin Maazel, Mary Beth Peil, Maurice Maeterlinck, Nabucco, Paul Daniel, Paul Hindemith, Pelleas et Melisande, Renata Scotto, Richard Stilwell, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Rita Cullis, Roberta Alexander, Roland Hermann, Sophocles, Stafford Dean, Summer and Smoke, Temistocle Solera, Tennessee Williams, The Flying Dutchman, Thomas Hemsley, Ulf Schirmer, Walter Süsskind, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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I have spent the past week planning forthcoming episodes and last night I realized I had to “throw together” something for this weekend’s episode. When this happens, it can often result in a very eclectic program, indeed, and one which many of my listeners find to be among the most enjoyable Countermelody episodes. I have collected more than enough material for at least a dozen of my so-called “Rescue Mission” episodes, in which I feature artists to whom an entire episode has already been devoted, but for whom I have unearthed additional recordings. For today’s episode, I decided to focus exclusively on duets, featuring at least one singer of each pair who has already been heard (sometimes quite recently) on the podcast. And thus we have David Rendall singing Erik in The Flying Dutchman opposite Rita Cullis; Renata Scotto (with Carlo Bergonzi) in Elisir; April Cantelo in Paul Hindemith’s Cardillac; Maureen Lehane as Penelope in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria; Carol Neblett as Donna Elvira; and Helen Donath (with Deborah Voigt in Strauss’s rare Die ägyptische Helena). Also heard are operas by Gottfried von Einem, Giuseppe Verdi, Lee Hoiby, and Carl Orff featuring Christa Ludwig, John Reardon, Grace Bumbry, Edda Moser, and upcoming Countermelody featured artists John Bröcheler, Roland Hermann, and Eberhard Wächter. The episode concludes with the unlikely pair of Ileana Cotrubaş (pictured) and Jorma Hynninen (two of my most revered singers) as the title characters in a transcendent live recording of Pelléas et Mélisande.

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 author 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 or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 388. Sopranos en détresse, Part Deux

August 24, 2025Bel canto, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, VerismoAbbé Prevost, Adolphe d’Ennery, Alain Vanzo, Albert Wolff, Alfred Bruneau, Alfred Cortot, Alphonse Daudet, Ambroise Thomas, Anatole France, André Cluytens, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Anton Guadagno, Antonio de Almeida, Arthur Bernède, Beverly Sills, Camille du Locle, Carol Vaness, Charles Chaynes, Charles Gounod, Christiane Eda-Pierre, Édouard Blau, Elgar Howarth, Emerson Buckley, Emma Calvé, Emmanuel Bondeville, Ernest Reyer, Erzsébet (Chaynes), Faust, Félia Litvinne, François-Hippolyte Leroy, Georges Bizet, Georges Tzipine, Gerard Souzay, Germaine Féraldy, Germaine Martinelli, Gustave Flaubert, Hector Berlioz, Henri Cain, Henri Duvernois, Henri Meilhac, Henri Trianon, Ivan IV (Bizet), Jacqueline Brumaire, James Morris, Janine Micheau, Jerry Hadley, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Bröcheler, Jules Barbier, Jules Claretie, Jules Massenet, Julius Rudel, La Navarraise, Le Cid, Les Troyens, Louis Gallet, Lucia Popp, Ludovic Janvier, Madame Bovary, Manon, Michel Carré, Michel Dens, Michel Sénéchal, Mignon, Nelly Miricioiu, Norman Treigle, Patricia Brooks, Philippe Gille, Pierre Corneille, René Fauchois, Salammbô (Reyer), Sapho (Massenet), Sergiu Comissiona, Thaïs, Vicente Sardinero, Virginie (Bruneau), Yolanda Marcoulescoucountermelody

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A few months ago I published the first of a series of episodes honoring “Over the Top Sopranos,” which presented French repertoire performed by a batch of supremely distressed divas. And today is a follow-up, again featuring “sopranos en détresse” in which I spread the net even wider, featuring every type of soprano from perky coloratura to hefty dramatic and everything in between. The characters represented range from reformed Alexandrian courtesans to vampiric Hungarian murderers. And the chronological spread is wide, too: we sample a wide variety of singers from Félia Litvinne, recorded in 1902, to Anna Caterina Antonacci, recorded in 2009. In between we hear, among others, Germaine Féraldy, Beverly Sills, Emma Calvé, Lucia Popp, Christiane Eda-Pierre (pictured), Patricia Brooks, Germaine Martinelli, Jacqueline Brumaire, Carol Vaness, Nelly Miricioiu, and Janine Micheau. Works range from the familiar (Mignon by Thomas, Manon by Massenet, and Faust by Gounod) to the obscure (Ivan IV by Bizet, Salammbô by Ernest Reyer, Erzsébet by Charles Chaynes, and Virginie by Alfred Bruneau). Attachez vos ceintures; ce sera encore une soirée extravagante!

Episode 387. Zauberwelt der Oper [Black Diva Edition]

August 22, 2025African American Singers, Bel canto, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Broadway, Canadian Singers, Comic Relief, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Singers of ColorAbbé Prevost, Alexander Krannhals, Angelo Anelli, Boris Mersson, Dido and Aeneas, Don Giovanni, Don Pasquale, ETA Hoffmann, Felicia Weathers, Fritz Peters, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Puccini, Giovanni Ruffini, Giuseppe Giacosa, Glade Peterson, Henri Meilhac, Henry Purcell, Jacques Offenbach, Jules Barbier, Jules Massenet, Leopold Simoneau, Lorenzo da Ponte, Luigi Illica, Madama Butterfly, Manon, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Michel Carré, Nahum Tate, Philippe Gille, Reri Grist, Scipio Colombo, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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I’m on holiday this week, but it would be most unGundlachian of me not to provide an episode to sustain my listeners in my absence. I recently purchased a mammoth 13-LP set on the Concert Hall Society label. The release promises a variety of excerpts that illustrate the history of opera from Monteverdi through Puccini. As such it makes use of a number of complete operatic recordings made for the now-nearly-forgotten label, as well as some impressive individual performances recorded in the early 1960s. One of the attractions of this release to me is that it presents rare recordings by three of the supreme African American divas of that era: Mattiwilda Dobbs, Reri Grist, and Felicia Weathers, the latter two at the very beginning of their international careers in the early 1960s, when they were both fest at the Zürich Opera (where, my astute listeners will remember, contralto Carol Smith) was also ensconced. None of these recordings has received wide distribution (in fact, to my knowledge the majority of them were never re-released in any form). So it is my particularly pleasure to present to you each of these three estimable artists in peak form on recordings that I (at least) had never before encountered: Dobbs as Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Olympia and Antonia in Tales of Hoffmann; Grist as Norina in Don Pasquale; and Weathers as Dido, Manon (by Massenet, not Puccini!), and Butterfly! A number of interesting male singers are nearby to provide assistance in duets: the Swiss tenor Fritz Peters, the American Glade Peterson (both of whom were also fest in Zürich at that time), the legendary French-Canadian Léopold Simoneau and Italian dramatic baritone Scipio Colombo. Far be it from me to throw together an episode that was not as fascinating as some of my more deeply-researched efforts! I’m also celebrating this week 100,000 downloads of the podcast. I’ve often referred to Countermelody as “the Little Podcast that Could,” so this milestone is particularly gratifying to me. Finally, this episode also serves as a belated birthday tribute to Felicia Weathers, who just last week turned 88 years old.

Episode 386. David Rendall in Memoriam

August 18, 2025Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe VerdiAlexander Borodin, Alexandre Dumas fils, Andrea Leone Tottola, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Arrigo Boito, Arthur Rimbaud, Benjamin Britten, Carlo Franci, Caterino Mazzolà, Charles Gounod, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Cosi fan tutte, Das Lied von der Erde, David Rendall, Der Rosenkavalier, Diana Montague, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die schöne Müllerin, Don Giovanni, Edo de Waart, Erich Leinsdorf, Faust, Francesco Maria Piave, Franco Alfano, Franz Schubert, George Forrest, Giacomo Puccini, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Hans Bethge, Hans Drewanz, Hector Berlioz, Heinz Wallberg, Henri Murger, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Iphigénie en Tauride, Ivor Bolton, James Levine, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Lennon, John Owen Edwards, Jules Barbier, Kālidāsa, Kiri Te Kanawa, Kismet, La Boheme, La Clemenza di Tito, La Donna del Lago, La leggenda di Sakùntala, La Traviata, Lawrence Foster, Les Illuminations, Li Bai, Lorenzo da Ponte, Luigi Illica, Mark Elder, Max Epstein, Michael Gielen, Michel Carré, Nicolas-François Guillard, Owain Arwel Hughes, Pagliacci, Pietro Metastasio, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Robert Wright, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Silvio Varviso, Simon Boccanegra, Valerie Masterson, Walter Scott, Wilhelm Müller, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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On 21 July, the opera world lost one of its finest tenors, David Rendall, at the age of 76. Rendall began his career in the mid-seventies as a lyric tenore di grazia specializing in bel canto and in the music of Mozart. His voice expanded and deepened over the years to encompass French roles (Des Grieux, Faust, Werther), 19th century Italian repertoire from Rodolfo to Otello, and finally Wagner roles from Lohengrin to Tristan. This episode explores his origins from his earliest recordings made before he ever considered a career in music, to live operatic recordings made between 1975 and 2006. Rendall’s family was a deeply musical one: his wife, Diana Montague, is a legendary mezzo-soprano, and their son Huw Montague Rendall is one of the brightest lights in the present-day operatic firmament. The episode includes Rendall singing song cycles by Britten and Schubert, and operatic rarities by Rossini and Alfano. In all of the music offered, David Rendall’s impeccable technique, patrician musicianship, and deep expressive connection to the music are heard to full effect. His memory will surely be a blessing to all who knew, heard, loved, and admired him. Many thanks to Huw for his advice in the preparation of this episode.

Episode 385. Classical Singer-Songwriters

August 16, 2025African American Singers, Art Song, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Canadian Singers, Countertenors, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Honor Your Mentors, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAleksis Kivi, Amy Schroeder, Andrea Goodman, Andrew Yee, Anna Moffo, Anna Tonna, Anne Sexton, Attacca Quartet, Barbara Strozzi, Billy Smith, Bruno Laplante, Caroline Shaw, Cathy Berberian, Charles Cambon, Daniel Gundlach, Der singende Traum, Diamánda Galás, Dominic Salerni, Éloi de Grandmont, Erika Duke Kirkpatrick, Ernst Marischka, Felix Timmermans, Gilda Lyons, Harry Partch, Henri Büsser, Isabela Dobarro, James Janssen, Janine Lachance, Jean Racine, Jean-Baptiste Faure, Jean-Paul Jeannotte, Jennifer Peterson, Joan La Barbara, Jozef de Bennhouwer, Jules Bledsoe, Kaylynn Sullivan, Kim Borg, Kristina Melcher, Laurie Anderson, Lisa Bielawa, Mario Lanfranchi, Martha Sullivan, Mary Anne Ballard, Meredith Monk, Monica Solem, Nathan Schram, Neal Ceppos, Patricia Kleinman, Pauline Viardot, Pentti Koskimies, Perry Hoberman, Phèdre, Polly Tapia Ferber, Rainer Maria Rilke, Richard Einhorn, Richard Tauber, Richard Zvoner, Robert Holl, Roman Baran, Rosario Bourdon, Sarah Pillow, Susan Kampe, Tito Schipacountermelody

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You’re all going to laugh at me, but that’s okay, cuz I’m I’m the one laughing hardest! I had planned an easy-peasy episode for yesterday, one which focused on two great 20th century bass-baritones who were both valued recitalists as well as composers! I’m talking about the faboo basses, Finnish Kim Borg, and Dutch Robert Holl, who also happened to be fantastic recitalists. I had the recordings on my collection; I just had to put them into an episode. But of course I began meditating on the question of the classical music version of the Singer-Songwriter and suddenly the episode had gone down a very different (and much more complicated) path. I came up with some fascinating examples beyond Borg and Holl (both of whom are still heard performing their songs on the episode!), all the way back to the Renaissance era and through to an incredibly impressive array of modern-day avant garde composer/performers. For starters: Barbara Strozzi and Pauline Viardot from days long past, but also figures like the great French baritone Jean-Baptiste Faure (anyone remember “The Palms”?), and those three intrepid tenors Tito Schipa, Richard Tauber, and Jean-Paul Jeannotte, and along the way not forgetting gay icons Jules Bledsoe and Harry Partch. Moving into the present-day, we encounter astonishing women composer/performers including pathbreakers Cathy Berberian, Joan La Barbara, Diamánda Galás, Laurie Anderson, and Meredith Monk, but also those intrepid women who have both taken inspiration from their models while carving out their own paths: Gilda Lyons, Martha Sullivan, Lisa Bielawa, and Caroline Shaw, among others. I’m thrilled that many of the singers, composers, or composer/performers are also friends of mine. Among those not mentioned above, stellar singers Sarah Pillow (singing Strozzi), and Anna Tonna (singing Viardot). Don’t tell anyone, but you might even hear me singing something! Exciting news about this episode: There are more women composers heard here than male! Hope you didn’t mind waiting for this one a little longer than usual!

Episode 384. Vera Little Revisited

August 11, 2025African American Singers, Bel canto, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Comic Relief, Forgotten Divas, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Contraltos, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Singers of Color, Spirituals, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaAchille de Lauzières, Alberto Erede, Aldo Bertocci, Alec Wilder, Andrès Wheatley, Anna Bolena, Anneliese Rothenberger, Arrigo Boito, Booker Little, Carmen, Chester Kallman, Christoph von Dohnányi, Dave Barbour, Der junge Lord, Die Bassariden, Falstaff, Felice Romani, Gaetano Donizetti, George Bizet, Giuseppe Verdi, Hall Johnson, Hans Werner Henze, Harry T. Burleigh, Helmut Reinold, Henri Meilhac, Ingeborg Bachmann, Jeri Southern, Karl Ridderbusch, Lorin Maazel, Ludovic Halévy, Maria Bosse-Sporleder, Mario Rossi, Mario Sereni, Oscar Danon, Peter Lagger, Prosper Mérimée, Robert MacGimsey, Roy Haymes, Scott Le Faro, Tears in My Eyes, The Bassarids, The Rake’s Progress, Tommy Flanagan, Vera Little, Vera Little-Augustithis, W.H. Auden, Waldemar Kmentt, Wilhelm Hauff, William Engvick, William L. Dawson, William Shakespearecountermelody

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On June 3, 2024, the Berlin Senate’s Department of Culture installed a memorial plaque in honor of African American contralto and Deutsche Oper star Vera Little at her former residence. Little, who lived from 1927 to 2012, and spent the majority of her adult life in Berlin, was a dazzlingly gifted singing actress who sang everything from bel canto to Carmen to creating two roles in operas by Hans Werner Henze. This episode makes use of newly-acquired recordings of Little singing Carmen and Dame Quickly in Falstaff. We also sample the work of Little’s extraordinarily gifted brother, the tragically short-lived jazz trumpeter Booker Little, as well as several excerpts (read by your host) from Tears in My Eyes, published in 1978, the first of Vera Little’s several published books of memoirs and poetry. The episode concludes with the majority of Little’s 1957 single solo recording, Twelve Spirituals, on Decca Records, containing arrangements by Harry Burleigh, William Dawson, and Hall Johnson accompanied by Domincan-French pianist Andrès Wheatley.

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 or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 383. Get to Know Carol Smith

August 8, 2025Bel canto, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Contraltos, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Twentieth Century Opera, VerismoAlexander Young, Bach Aria Group, Barbara Scherler, Bernard Greenhouse, Camille Saint-Saens, Carol Smith, Cavalleria Rusticana, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Erich Itor Kahn, Felice Romani, Felix Schumann, Ferdinand Lemaire, Gaetano Donizetti, Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, Giovanni Verga, Giuseppe Verdi, Guido Menasci, Hana Janků, Heinrich von Kleist, Hermann Lingg, Jacques-François Ancelot, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Jussi Bjorling, Kari Nurmela, Martti Talvela, Messa da Requiem, Nello Santi, Orfeo ed Euridice, Othmar Schoeck, Penthesilea, Pietro Mascagni, Raili Kostia, Rainieri de’ Calzabigi, Renato Cellini, Robert Bloom, Roberto Devereux, Roland Hermann, Salvadore Cammarano, Samson et Dalila, Willem van Otterloo, William H. Scheide, Zdeněk Mácal, Zinka Milanovcountermelody

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If the exceptional Illinois-born contralto Carol Smith (20 February 1926 – 06 June 2021) has previously escaped your notice, now is the perfect opportunity to get to know her better. She began her career singing the music of Bach with the legendary Bach Aria Group, founded in 1946 by philanthropist, scholar, and collector William H. Scheide. Smith then went on for further vocal training in Italy, making her operatic stage debut in 1961 in Napoli. There followed a glorious operatic career as one of the world’s leading dramatic mezzo-sopranos, with performances throughout Italy and Germany as well as with her home company in Zürich. She went on to become an esteemed and highly respected voice teacher on two continents. This episode digs deep into her recorded legacy, featuring cantata arias of Bach, Lieder of Brahms, arias by Gluck, Verdi, and Saint-Saëns, and scenes from Cavalleria rusticana, Roberto Devereux, and Penthesilea, a hidden early 20th-century masterpiece by Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck. No matter what repertoire Smith was singing, she was, by virtue of her chocolate-timbred voice, dramatic flair, and vocal glamour, power, and flexibility, a true Queen of Song.

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 or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 382. Eine Janowitzische Geburtstagfeier

August 4, 2025Art Song, Full-Figured Baroque, Happy Birthday, Interview, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaBruno Hardt-Warden, Charles Spencer, Das Marienleben, Die Rosen der Madonna, Die Schöpfung, Emil Kuh, Franz Liszt, Georg Christian Lehms, Gottfried van Swieten, Gundula Janowitz, Herbert von Karajan, Hermann Hesse, Hermann Prey, Irwin Gage, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Henry Mackay, Joseph Haydn, Karl Friedrich Henckell, Karl Gottfried von Leitner, Mathieu Lange, Mathilde Wesendonck, Otto Tumlirz, Paul Hindemith, Peter Waters, Rainer Maria Rilke, Richard Dehmel, Richard Stamp, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Robert Stolz, Rudolf Barshai, Vier letzte Lieder, Waldemar Kmentt, Wesendonck-Liedercountermelody

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If you “get” Gundula Janowitz, then you really get her, and this birthday tribute will be a delectable treat. If, however, you don’t get her, or don’t think that you get her, you might want to give this episode a try, anyway, for it focuses on her work as a Lieder singer. It is my contention that she was one of the very finest song recitatlists of the late 20th century. Like Grace Bumbry, Margaret Price, Helen Donath, and a number of others, she balanced her work in opera with superlative work on the recital stage. To support my informed opinion, I have found a number of rare live recordings from Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Athens, in which the beloved soprano performs (with her pianists Irwin Gage, Charles Spencer, and Peter Waters and conductor Rudolf Barshai), songs of Strauss, Schubert, Liszt, Wagner, and Hindemith. The episode is supplemented by music by Haydn, Bach, and Robert Stolz, the last an early-career Janowitz performance of his obscure opera Die Rosen der Madonna. In these works, she is heard in duet with Waldemar Kmentt and last week’s featured singer, Hermann Prey. Herzliche (aber nachträgliche) Geburtstagsgrüße an unsere geliebte Frau Kammersängerin!

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 or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.

Episode 381. I Got a Name (Pride Edition)

August 1, 2025African American Singers, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Broadway, Comic Relief, Crossover, Great Contraltos, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAlbert Giraud, Anthony Newley, Antony Pay, Arnold Schoenberg, Arthur Sullivan, Brian Benedict, Burt Bacharach, Cecil Gray, Charles Fox, Cher, Christa Schuenke, Christopher Nell, Christopher van Kampen, Claus Ogerman, Cleo Laine, Clifford Benson, Connie Francis, David Frost, David Gates, Don Giovanni, Elgar Howarth, Ernest MacMillan, George Frideric Handel, Giuseppe Verdi, Granfranco Intra, H.M.S Pinafore, Hal David, Harold Arlen, J.D. Doyle, Jack Parnell, Jean Fredericks, Jean Malin, Jim Croce, John Dankworth, Judith Pearce, Jule Styne, Julian Eltinge, Jürgen Holtz, Lena Horne, Leslie Bricusse, Marcia Crayford, Marty Paich, Mike Bongiorno. Tom Lehrer, Neil Sedaka, Norman Gimbel, Otto Erich Hartleben, Pierrot lunaire, Ramsete Ciampi, Robert Chabrier, Robert Wilson, Roberto Ciampi, Rufus Wainwright, Semele, Stan Applebaum, Stephen Sondheim, Ted Koehler, The Midnight Special, The Muppet Show, Thomas Arne, Tom Lehrer, W.S. Gilbert, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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At first blush, this episode may look a bit slapdash, but it actually reflects very much where I am at this moment. It’s got a bit more of a narrative than most of my episodes do, and somehow in this story a number of different strands come together. The starting point was a Pride bonus episode I published in June 2024 exploring a rare and fascinating 1964 LP of a live recital by “female impersonator” (Mr.) Jean Fredericks that also somehow folded into the mix hidden family narratives, Gilbert Godfrey, Charles Fox, Jim Croce, and the song “I Got a Name.” I have taken that episode and both streamlined and expanded it, including memorial tributes to four significant artists who have died in the past several weeks: Connie Francis, Tom Lehrer, Cleo Laine, and (just yesterday) Robert Wilson. I talk much more about myself on this episode than I ever have before, including meditations on my conservative upbringing, my senior prom, and The Muppet Show! I’ve also included two additional performances of “I Got a Name” by Lena Horne and Cher which drive home the importance of carrying your name and your dream with pride. If I’ve ever published an artistic credo, this is it.

If, as I have done, you wish to explore and/or support J.D. Doyle and his Queer Music Heritage website, where I first discovered Jean Fredericks, you can find it at www.queermusicheritage.com.

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 or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.