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Today, October 3, is probably the most significant of all German holidays, the Tage der Deutschen Einheit, the day on which we celebrate “Die Wende,” German reunification. Though the country in some ways is more divided than it has ever been (shades of my own home country!), we somehow must continue to hold on to hope and love as the forces that drive us on. It just so happens that the episode I was planning for today fits in quite nicely with today’s theme of German reunification, as it presents two significant East German musicians, the jugendlich dramatisch soprano Hanne-Lore Kuhse, and the conductor Kurt Masur. The latter figure, in fact, played a significant part in Germany’s coming back together. The two of them were collaborators from the beginning of their respective careers, as they both performed at the Mecklenburgisches Staatsoper in Schwerin in the 1950s. The trajectory of Masur’s later career is well known; after Schwerin, Kuhse herself was a leading soprano first in Leipzig and then at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, finding her greatest personal success during a surprising yet brief sojourn to the United States in 1966, where she performed in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles in particular, just missing out (thanks to the machinery of the East German bureaucracy) on a Metropolitan Opera debut as Isolde, probably her greatest role. Today’s episode presents, nearly in its entirety, a 1968 release for the East German Eterna label which brought Kuhse and Masur back together. Another in the label’s Ein Opernabend mit… series, this installment features Kuhse and Masur collaborating on arias from Don Giovanni, Fidelio, Macbeth, and several Wagner operas, including Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, and Tristan. I supplement these with additional recordings of Kuhse, both live and studio, in Turandot, Iphigenia auf Tauris, Don Carlos, Radamisto of Handel, Tiefland by Eugen d’Albert, and Der Friedensengel of Siegfried Wagner. Still remembered by aficionados of great singing, Kuhse is revealed once again (or for the first time) as one of the most important German sopranos of the mid-twentieth century.
Countermelody is the 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.
