Category Archives: Honor Your Mentors

Episode 403. Roberta Alexander In Memoriam

October 18, 2025African American Singers, Art Song, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Broadway, Crossover, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Richard Strauss, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Spirituals, Twentieth Century Music, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAdolf Heyduk, Adolph Green, Alban Berg, Alec Wilder, Altenberg-Lieder, Andrew Davis, Ángel de Saavedra, Antonín Dvořák, Arthur Rimbaud, Benjamin Britten, Betty Comden, Brian Masuda, Bruce Hubbard, Charles Ives, Claron McFadden, Clifford Shaw, Colenton Freeman, David Porcelijn, David Triestram, Dick Hoogeveen, Du Bose Heyward, Edith Hemenway, Edo de Waart, Elinor Wylie, Francesco Maria Piave, Gabriela Preissová, Gaetano Delogu, Gary Miller, George Frideric Handel, George Gershwin, Giulio Cesare, Giuseppe Verdi, Hall Johnson, Hendrik Andriessen, Howard Haskin, Ira Gershwin, James Agee, Janet Williams, Jenůfa, John Dawson, John Greenleaf Whittier, John Henry McKay, John Milton, La finta giardiniera, La forza del destino, Langston Hughes, Laquita Mitchell, Leonard Bernstein, Leos Janacek, Les Illuminations, Loonis McGlohon, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Michael Tilson Thomas, Moses-Ibn-Ezra, Nicola Francesco Haym, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, On the Town, Peter Altenberg, Porgy and Bess, Randall Thompson, Reinild Mees, Riccardo Chailly, Richard Strauss, Roberta Alexander, Samuel Barber, Semyon Bychkov, Spirituals, Tan Crone, The Divan of Moses-Ibn-Ezra, Thomas à Kempis, Undine Smith Moore, Vaughan Schlepp, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Zigeunermelodiencountermelody

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This is an episode I never dreamed I would have to produce. But alas, the great Roberta Alexander has unexpectedly departed this earth this past Tuesday evening, on the three-week anniversary of my beloved mother’s death. Listeners to Countermelody know how much I revered her artistry, and how much I valued our special friendship. In fact, just last week as David and I escaped for a few days to the Netherlands for my birthday, I had been in touch with Roberta, hoping that we could see each other, but she was still recovering from a serious illness from last summer that, in the end, proved too much for her heart, no matter how kind and generous it was. I’m reminded that on the same day I published my first all-Roberta episode, in honor of her birthday in 2023, her dear friend and colleague Kenneth Montgomery died, also unexpectedly. Today’s episode is the fifth (but certainly not the last) time that I will honor Roberta, not only the kindest yet most straight-shooting, but also the least pretentious world-class singer I have ever known. For today’s tribute I have chosen music that, begging your indulgence, is for the most part, valedictory. Yet I also sought to foreground both her extraordinary versatility as well as her profound powers of communication, in music ranging from Handel to Bernstein, Mozart to Berg, Wilder to Janácek, all of it gloriously performed. Many of the recordings, as is my wont, are extremely rare, yet at the same time cherishable. There will be a bonus episode this weekend featuring many of the selections that ended up on the cutting room floor today. Roberta may no longer be with us, but on my podcast, she will always be prominently celebrated as the great singer, teacher, mentor, and friend that she was. Requiescat in pace, dear one.

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 398. Leontyne Price (Jane’s Divas I)

September 30, 2025African American Singers, Art Song, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Broadway, Crossover, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Richard Strauss, Singers of Color, Spirituals, Twentieth Century MusicAdolphe Adam, Aida, Andre Previn, Ángel de Saavedra, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Antony and Cleopatra, Atalanta, Auguste Mariette, Belisario Valeriani, Carlo Maria Giulini, David Garvey, DuBose Heyward, Edward Downes, Francesco Maria Piave, Franco Corelli, Franco Zeffirelli, Friedrich von Flotow, George Frideric Handel, George Gershwin, Giuseppe Verdi, Herbert von Karajan, Hermit Songs, Ira Gershwin, James Levine, Jerome Hines, Jimmy Carter, John Sullivan Dwight, La forza del destino, Margaret E. Bonds, Martha, Michelangelo Veltri, Oscar Hammerstein II, Placide Cappeau, Porgy and Bess, Richard Rodgers, Richard Strauss, Rosalind Elias, Samuel Barber, Sean O'Faolain, The King and I, Thomas Moore, Thomas Schippers, Vier letzte Lieder, William Shakespearecountermelody

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I tried at the end of last week to do a memorial episode honoring my mother who died just a week ago. At the time I couldn’t quite manage it, but I am back again using a different approach: I tell vignettes of mine and my mother’s lives as they intertwined with the voice and presence of a singer we both enormously admired and enjoyed: Miss Leontyne Price. In between the personal stories, which extend from my earliest childhood to the day before my mother died, I weave in recordings of Leontyne in opera (Aida, La forza del destino, Antony and Cleopatra, Porgy and Bess), song (Hermit Songs, Vier letzte Lieder), spirituals, and more. There will be one more memorial tribute featuring another of Jane’s Divas within the week. Thank you again for your empathetic and loving wishes.

Episode 390. Donath Sings Strauss

September 1, 2025Art Song, Great Contraltos, Happy Birthday, Honor Your Mentors, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Richard Strauss, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaAdolf Friedrich von Schack, Albert Bonnema, Annette Jahns, Arabella, Deborah Voigt, Der Rosenkavalier, Die Ägyptische Helena, Fabio Luisi, Felix Dahn, Friedrich von Sallet, Gottfried August Bürger, Heinrich Heine, Helen Donath, Hermann Hesse, Hermann von Gilm, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Ivan Törzs, John Henry Mackay, Joseph von Eichendorff, Julia Varady, Klaus Donath, Oskar Panizza, Otto Friedrich Gruppe, Richard Strauss, Vier letzte Lieder, Vitalija Blinstrubyte, Wolfgang Sawallischcountermelody

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Beloved Countermelody favorite Helen Donath celebrated her 85th birthday on 10 July. In honor of that milestone, I once again celebrate her (which I’ve done so often, but I don’t think anyone is complaining!) This episode features the venerated soprano singing the music of Richard Strauss. In 1976 and 1981 she recorded two albums of Lieder for EMI, both accompanied by her husband, pianist and conductor Klaus Donath, each of which included a selection of songs by Strauss. In addition, I offer recordings of Donath singing various operatic excerpts, both live and studio, of her acclaimed Sophie in Rosenkavalier and Zdenka/o in Arabella. In addition, two late career Donath rarities. First is a concert performance of Die ägyptische Helena live from the Salzburg Festival in the summer of 2003 in which Donath sings the challenging role of Aithra with a freshness and radiance that is breathtaking. The episode concludes with an extraordinary live 2000 recording of Donath performing the Vier letzte Lieder, a tribute to the natural progression of her voice into the jugendlich dramatisch repertoire as she aged. Vocal guest stars include Júlia Várady (who today celebrates her 84th birthday!), Doris Soffel, and Deborah Voigt. Let us extend our hearty good wishes and affection to La Donath, who is finally living in well-earned Ruhestand, after a career that extended well into her 70s.

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 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 378. Rescue Mission III (Friends Edition)

July 21, 2025African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Broadway, Canadian Singers, Crossover, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Great Baritones, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Opera in Translation, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Rescue Mission, Schubert, Singers of Color, Spirituals, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, VerismoAlessandro Cerè, Annabelle Bernard, Anne Wiggins Brown, April Cantelo, Barbara Wimunc, Béatrice Uria-Monzon, Carlo Gozzi, Carlo Zangarini, Carol Neblett, Cesar Franck, Charles Wadsworth, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Colin Davis, David Belasco, Denise Duval, Die schöne Müllerin, Du Bose Heyward, Ed Spanjaard, Édouard Blau, Eleanor Steber, Émile Belcourt, Émile Deschamps, Emmanuel Bondeville, Ernest Ragogini, Eugen Jochum, Eugène Scribe, Franco Corelli, Franz Schubert, Frederick Marshall, George Gershwin, George Shirley, Gérard de Nerval, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Adami, Gloria Davy, Guelfo Civinini, Hector Berlioz, Heinrich Hollreiser, Helen Watts, Humbert Ferrand, Ira Gershwin, James Demster, Jan Behr, Jerry Hadley, Johan Hye-Knudsen, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Fletcher, John Williams, Jorma Hynninen, La Fanciulla del West, Leonard Bernstein, Les francs-juges (Berlioz), Lois Marshall, Mario Rossi, Mass in b minor, Massimo de Bernart, Maureen Lehane, Maurice Jacquemot, Michel Plasson, Ottorino Respighi, Paul Collin, Peter Pears, Porgy and Bess, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Rébecca (Franck), Rédemption (Franck), Renato Simoni, Robert Merfeld, Sandra Warfield, Sarah Caldwell, Sarah Reese, Semirâma, Stephen Sondheim, Tancredi, Turandot, Valerie Masterson, Veronica Tyler, Voltaire, West Side Story, Wilhelm Müller, William Parker, Yevdokya Rostopchinacountermelody

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Even after I publish a Countermelody episode on a favorite singer, I continue to collect material on them, which I then occasionally fold into a potpourri episode of vocal and musical delights. I have dubbed such episodes part of my “Rescue Mission” series and I’m tempted to call today’s episode I’m tempted to call “Friend Edition” (even though there are several good friends I’ve made in recent years who are not represented today). Be that as it may, I do love putting out such episodes, especially as it gives new listeners some idea of the range and depth of the podcast, and the joys of dipping into Countermelody’s back catalogue. For today’s episode I spread the net particularly wide, and in some cases went way back into my archives so present you with some rarities which I have programmed in such a way to take us from the despair and confusion that many of us are feeling right now into a place of both resolution and resolve to keep holding on and fighting for what is right. Today’s setlist includes many Countermelody favorites: tenors George Shirley, Peter Pears, and Jerry Hadley; baritones William Parker and Jorma Hynninen, mezzo-soprano Maureen Lehane; and sopranos Eleanor Steber, Carol Neblett, Sarah Reese, Anne Wiggins Brown, Veronica Tyler, Annabelle Bernard, Denise Duval, Lois Marshall, Gloria Davy, and April Cantelo; with appearances by other great singers who have not yet been featured in full episodes, including Franco Corelli, Sandra Warfield, Helen Watts, Émile Belcourt, Valerie Masterson, and, in memoriam, Béatrice Uria-Monzon. We hear music from César Franck, Ottorino Respighi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Giacomo Puccini, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Franz Schubert, George Gershwin, Gioachino Rossini, Leonard Bernstein, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Emmanuel Bondeville, and Giacomo Meyerbeer. As always, queer artists and artists of color are prominently featured, as one of my objectives in producing this podcast is to foreground such historical artists as essential to our growth and self-awareness. If you’re just getting to know the podcast, this is as good a place to start as anywhere!

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 377. Joan Caplan Memorial Tribute

July 18, 2025Art Song, Bel canto, Comic Relief, Forgotten Divas, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Contraltos, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Queer Pride, Rescue Mission, Twentieth Century MusicAchim von Arnim, Antonio Salvi, Ariodante, Christian Reinhold, Cinco canciones negras, Clemens Brentano, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Dido and Aeneas, Felice Romani, Gaetano Donizetti, Georg Friedrich Daumer, George Frideric Handel, Giambattista Martini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Harold Aks, Henri Meilhac, Henry Purcell, Hugo Conrat, Jacopo Ferretti, Jacques Offenbach, Jephtha, Joan Caplan, Johann Adolf Hasse, Johannes Brahms, L’Olimpiade, Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit, Lucrezia Borgia, Ludovic Halévy, Ludovico Arioso, Martin Pearlman, Messa da Requiem, Nahum Tate, Newell Jenkins, Nicola Rescigno, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Prosper Mérimée La Périchole, Rafael Alberti, Ruth Rabinow, Stephen Simon, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, Thomas Morell, Torquato Tasso, Victor Hugo, Wallace Stevens, Xavier Montsalvatge, Zigeunerliedercountermelody

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This past April, my former voice teacher and treasured friend Joan Caplan died at the age of 92. A few weeks ago, family and friends organized a memorial gathering for which I produced a short audio tribute, which is heard at the beginning of this episode. Before the event, we heard a number of recordings of Joan in her prime that absolutely knocked me on my ear. I was kindly given copies of these recordings from which I have fashioned an expanded episode in her honor. Most of these recordings have simply never been heard before, but I know that Joan was very proud of the work that she did during her active singing career, before she dedicated herself wholeheartedly to her teaching. Her rare live recordings of arias by Handel, Verdi, Donizetti, Purcell, and Hasse display her magnificent technique, while excerpts from her song recitals, including music by Brahms, Mahler, Montsalvatge, and Glanville-Hicks, display her versatility as well as her interpretive insight. I also share personal insights and reminiscences of Joan which will, I hope, reveal the special relationship that I shared with her, which many of her students, friends, and chosen family also experienced. When I last visited Joan, I promised her that I would do what I could to ensure that she would be properly remembered. With this episode, I do my part, to the best of my ability, to keep that promise.

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 375. Gilda Cruz-Romo In Memoriam

July 11, 2025Bel canto, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Singers of Color, VerismoAbbé Prevost, Aida, Alexandre Dumas fils, Andrea Chénier, Andrea Maffei, Ángel de Saavedra, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Arrigo Boito, Auguste Mariette and Temistocle Solera, Carlo Bergonzi, Carlo Gozzi, Carol Neblett, Cesare Siepi, Colenton Freeman, Domenico Oliva, Emerson Buckley, Enrico Di Giuseppe, Felice Romani, Francesco Maria Piave, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Franco Corelli, Gabriele Bellini, Giacomo Puccini, Gianfranco Cecchele, Gilda Cruz-Romo, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Henri Murger, John Alexander, Julius Rudel, La Boheme, La forza del destino, La Traviata, Luigi Illica, Macbeth, Manon Lescaut, Marco Praga, Mefistofele, Nell Rankin, Nino Sanzogno, Norma, Renato Simoni, Riccardo Muti, Salador Novoa, Silvano Carroli, Umberto Giordano, Vincenzo Bellini, Walter Herbert, William Ledbetter, Zubin Mehtacountermelody

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Back in December I published my first episode honoring the superb soprano Gilda Cruz-Romo, as part of my series honoring Mexican opera singers. In my research, I amassed a large number of live recordings from which I intended to cobble together a second episode in honor of her upcoming birthday. I was distracted by some family issues and, her February birthday came and went, and now, alas, Gilda is no longer with us. But to pay tribute to this exceptional artists, I have assembled a brand new setlist which seeks to do at least partial justice to the breadth and depth of her exceptional career. After last week’s episode featuring Carol Neblett, here is another exceptional soprano whose talent brought glory to the stage of the New York City Opera in the early days of her career and went on to become an important member of the Metropolitan Opera as well. We hear extended excerpts of a number of her Paraderollen, including Aida, Violetta, Manon Lescaut, Mimì, Leonora di Vargas, and Maddalena di Coigny, as well as two later-career roles that might surprise you. Guest artists heard on the episode include Silvano Carroli, Carlo Bergonzi, Cesare Siepi, Colenton Freeman, John Alexander, Gianfranco Cecchele, Enrico Di Giuseppe, Salvador Novoa, and Franco Corelli; conductors include Julius Rudel, Zubin Mehta, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Nino Sanzogno, and Riccardo Muti. Carol Neblett even puts in a brief appearance!

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 373. Carol Neblett: Girl of the Golden West

July 4, 2025Art Song, Bel canto, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Interview, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Operetta, Rescue Mission, Richard Strauss, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAbbé Prevost, Abe Polakoff, Alexandre Dumas fils, Alfred Maria Willner, Anatole France, Anton Guadagno, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Ariadne auf Naxos, Ariettes oubliées, Arrigo Boito, Barry Morell, Bruno Bartoletti, Carl Suppa, Carlo Gozzi, Carlo Zangarini, Carol Neblett, Charles Wendelkon-Wilson, Chris Nance, Claude Debussy, Cornell MacNeil, Darlene Lawrence, David Belasco, Dominic Cossa, Don Yule, Enrico Di Giuseppe, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Francesco Maria Piave, Georges Rodenbach, Giacomo Puccini, Giambattista Moresco, Gian Carlo Menotti, Gian Piero Mastromei, Giangiacomo Guelfi, Gilda Cruz-Romo, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Giacosa, Guelfo Civinini, Gustave Charpentier, Heinz Reichert, Henri Meilhac, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Idomeneo, Il Trovatore, Imre Pallo, Ion Piso, James Levine, John Pritchard, Jules Massenet, Julian Patrick, Julius Korngold, Julius Rudel, Kenneth Schermerhorn, Knud Anderson, La Fanciulla del West, La rondine, La Traviata, Louis Gallet, Louis Quilico, Luciano Pavarotti, Luigi Illica, Manon, Michael Devlin, Michelangelo Veltri, Paul Schott, Paul Verlaine, Philippe Gille, Renato Simoni, Richard Strauss, Rigoletti, Rigoletto, Salvadore Cammarano, Silvio Varviso, Stefan Schermerhorn, Thaïs, The Telephone, Tosca, Turandot, Victor Hugo, Victorien Sardou, William Ledbetter, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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Today is the day that the United States formerly celebrated its independence. But the events of recent months have not made me feel much like celebrating. As I racked my brain to think of an “American” (read: US-American) of whom we could be truly proud, my mind flew to Carol Neblett, one of the great (if relatively unsung) voices of the 1970s and beyond. Carol died prematurely and unexpectedly in November 2017, and from the earliest days of the podcast, it has been my intention to bring increased attention to her incandescent voice and artistry. For a while, her son Stefan Schermerhorn and I have been planning to do such a tribute, but as with so many such plans, life got in the way. With the looming national holiday, however, I felt the urgent need to do a Carol Neblett episode. So I contacted Stefan earlier this week to ask him if he had any reminiscences to share with us as I was preparing this urgently-needed episode. He returned with an absolutely charming Fourth of July anecdote which begins the tribute. There follows a plethora of live recordings of near-definitive performances of an enormous range of roles that were core to Carol’s repertoire: Violetta, Ariadne, Thaïs, Marietta, Manon, Musetta, Louise, Tosca, Magda in La Rondine, Margherita in Mefistofele, Leonora in Il Trovatore, and Elettra in Idomeneo. Also well-represented is no doubt her most celebrated portrayal: Minnie in La Fanciulla del West. Being a tall and statuesque California-born blonde made Carol a physically ideal Minnie, but even moreso, it was THAT VOICE which allowed her to negotiate all of the part’s considerable vocal difficulties and made her legendary in the part. This is the first of a planned series of Neblett episodes that I hope will bring you as much delight in listening as it did me in preparing it. And in this undeniably grim period of our nation’s history, we desperately need Carol Neblett as a shining example of the brilliance of which the United States is still capable.

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 370. Lesbian Concentrate and Beyond (Pride 2025)

June 23, 2025African American Singers, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Comic Relief, Great Contraltos, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Interview, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersBeBe K’Roche, Carole King, Cris Williamson, Debbie Lempke, Gerry Goffin, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Gwen Avery, Holly Near, Jake Lambert, Jennifer Wysong, Jerene O’Brien, Judy Dlugacz, Judy Grahn, Linda Tillery, Los Angeles Women’s Community Chorus, Mary Watkins, Meg Christian, Nancy Henderson, Nancy Vogl, Olivia Records, Pat Parker, Peggy Mitchell, Sue Fink, Susann Shanbaum, Teresa Trull, Virginia Rubinocountermelody

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Continuing the Countermelody show of Pride for this month’s LGBTQ+ celebrations, I take a look back at the Women’s Music Movement of the mid-1970s as reflected in the 1977 Olivia Records release Lesbian Concetrate: A Lesbianthology of Songs and Poems. I present the album in its entirety, as well as providing some historical context for the release: on the history of Olivia Records as an offshoot of some earlier lesbian separatist groups; as well as the cruel and hateful legacy of Anita Bryant, who, with a swift collective kick to her rear, has recently descended to hell. Bryant coined language in her 1976 “Save Our Children” initiative in Dade Country, Florida. Such language continues to be used by ultra-right-wing Christian nationalists to this day. On a more positive note, I describe and celebrate the legacies of each of the singers, bands, and poets heard on this release, all of which also have increased resonance both politically and musically in this frought world of 2025.

“We wanted to do everything – everything – differently than what we had been told was the proper way to do things. There were some hard things. All of it was hard and all of it was wonderful at the same time.” Ginny Z. Berson, co-founder of Olivia Records in an interview with Bonnie Morris first broadcast on This Way Out Radio on 14 December 2020

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 369. Joséphine Baker Revisited (Live Edition)

June 20, 2025African American Singers, Black History Month, Black History Month 2025, Broadway, Comic Relief, Drag Performance, Holiday Music, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Queer Pride, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Voiceless WondersAndré Hornèz, Arthur Freed, Augusto Alguerro, Bruno Coquatrix, Charles Aznavour, Claude François, Eddie Barclay, Flavien Monod, Géo Koger, Guy Lafarge, Henri Betti, Honoré Trenchant, Jacques Revaux, Jacques Trenchant, Jerome Kern, Jo Bouillon, Joaquín Prieto, Joséphine Baker, Karl Hampton Porter, Leon Arias Rafael, Morton Craft, Nacio Herb Brown, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Lington, Paul Anka, Peter Kreuder, Richard Rodgers, Selma Craft, Tony Renis, Vincent Scottocountermelody

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Yesterday was a crucial celebration for all US-Americans: Juneteenth. In honor of that event and in continuing observation of Pride 2025, I offer today an episode in honor of the great Joséphine Baker (1906 – 1975). I have been an avid (not to say rabid) Baker fan for more than thirty years, so when she was inducted by the French government into the Panthéon in the fall of 2021, I took the opportunity to devote a pair of Countermelody episodes to her. This refurbished episode includes personal reminiscences about my journey on the route to full Bakermania, while the bulk of the musical content consists of possibly the most vibrant extant live recording of Joséphine Baker, which took place on 30 June 1963, the final performance of her month-long engagement at the Tivoli Varietéen in Copenhagen. I’m pretty sure it’s not currently available elsewhere on the interwebs. Joséphine Baker’s magnetism, seductiveness, self-mockery, sauciness, and sincerity are all on full display. Some favorite and/or rare Baker material rounds out the episode, including a pair of Pathé recordings made during the War, when she was an active member of the French Resistance; the soundtrack of an early sound film in which she performs her signature number, “J’ai deux amours”; a recording made in conjunction with her final performance at the Bobino in Paris in 1975 (just before her death); a 1966 live recording from one of her many appearances in Havana; and her final appearance in her native United States at Carnegie Hall on 05 June 1973, in which a laryngitic, nearly voiceless Baker delivers her artistic credo in a riveting performance of “My Way.” The episode begins with a tribute to the late Alfred Brendel.

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 368. Gay Eccentrics (Pride 2025)

June 17, 2025African American Singers, Art Song, Broadway, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Baritones, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Opera, Voiceless WondersArthur Siegel, Bea Arthur, Beatrice Arthur, Ben Bagley, Bernard Dickerson, Bill McCutcheon, Bobby Short, Bud McCreery, Charles Strouse, Charlotte Rae, Cole Porter, David Baker, David Brynley, Dody Goodman, Dorothea Freitag, Dorothy Greener, Dorothy Loudon, Eddie Hilton, Esther Lilian Duff, Fay De Witt, Felicity Lott, G. Wood, George Marcy, Georges Jean-Aubry, Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, Heinrich Heine, Henry Lawes, Herb Hartig, Hugo Wolf, Ian Caddy, Ian Partridge, Joel Grey, John Bartis, John Hilton the Younger, John Masefield, John Winfield, Kaye Ballard, Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement, Lee Adams, Len Vorster, Liza Redfield, Lord Berners, Lorenz Hart, Meriel Dickinson, Mike Stewart, Nicholas Cleobury, Norman Notley, Norman Paris, Panama Hattie, Paul Wolfe, Peter Dickinson, Peter Lawson, Prosper Mérimée, Ralph Roberts, Richard Rodgers, Richard Rodney Bennett, Robert Graves, Robert Jones, Sheldon Harnick, Shoestring ’57, Skip Redwine, Tammy Grimes, Tennessee Williams, The Littlest Revue, The Shoestring Revue, Thomas Campion, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Morley, Tommy Morton, Vernon Duke Ogden Nash, Will Irwin, William Hickeycountermelody

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Somewhere along the line in planning my Pride 2025 episodes, I hit upon the idea of paying tribute to Gay Eccentrics. (Maybe because I am one of them myself?) There are many mad queer geniuses in the history of music, and I have chosen today to focus on three twentieth-century case studies. First, the husband and husband team of Norman Notley (1890 – 1980) and David Brynley (1902 – 1981), musical and artistic polymaths who settled in the small Dorset village of Corfe Castle. They were both members of the innocuously-named New English Singers, which was actually an early version of the high-caliber vocal chamber ensembles in such profusion today. In recent times their archives have been digitized and exhibited at the Dorset Museum and Art Gallery, which has led to their story going viral. In 1957 while living in the US, the pair made a recording of Elizabethan Songs that is a model of its kind and is featured on the episode. Next up us Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson (1883 – 1950), much better known as Lord Berners, the quintessential upper-class British eccentric who also happened to be the leading British avant-garde composer of his day (as well as a “notorious” homosexual!) I feature an excerpt from his single opera as well as a passel of songs from his small output. Finally, we cross the Atlantic to encounter the prescience, acerbic wit and borderline insanity of Ben Bagley (1933 – 1998), the producer of off-Broadway theatrical revues and a series of recordings featuring unknown material by the top Broadway composers of the day, including fellow gay eccentrics Cole Porter and Lorenz Hart. I may be a day late with this week’s episode, but I’m definitely not a dollar short! This episode has something for everyone!

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 361. Russell Oberlin Revisited

May 23, 2025Art Song, Full-Figured Baroque, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Opera in Translation, Queer Pride, Richard Strauss, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaA Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ariadne auf Naxos, Benjamin Britten, Bertha Melnick, Denis Stevens, Douglas Williams, Drew Minter, Georg Solti, George Frideric Handel, George Ricci, Glenn Gould, Heinrich Heine, Henry Purcell, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Jan Rubes, Joan Carlyle, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Dowland, John Dryden, Leonard Bernstein, Loren Driscoll, Ludovico Ariosto, Ludus Danielis, Martha Blackman, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Max Leavitt, New York Pro Musica, Noah Greenberg, Paul Maynard, Paul O’Dette, Richard Strauss, Robert Goss, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Schumann, Rodelinda, Russell Oberlin, Seymour Barab, Stoddard Lincoln, The Play of Daniel, Thomas Sherman, William Byrd, William Shakespearecountermelody

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I’ve been so lucky this week to cross paths with several beloved friends and colleagues, in some cases for the first time in ages. One of those friends of many years’ standing is the legendary countertenor Drew Minter, with whom I made my very first appearances on the New York concert stage… well, a few years back now! Seeing Drew made me think not only to his influence on me in my early years of singing, but also of the influence of the earliest (and still to my mind the greatest) of all American countertenors, Russell Oberlin. A few years ago, I dedicated a pair of episodes to him, and today I present to you the second of those episodes, originally fashioned exclusively for my Patreon subscribers, yet another “refurbished” Countermelody episode that now sees the light of day. I explore Oberlin’s performances of medieval and renaissance music, both with the New York Pro Musica (The Play of Daniel, Dufay, and Dowland) and with the Experiences Anonymes record label (Byrd and 13th Century French Polyphony). I also offer examples of Oberlin’s expertise in performance of baroque music, offering two Bach arias (one performed with Leonard Bernstein, the other with Glenn Gould), and several Handel selections, including a complete cantata from one of his rarer LP releases. In addition, we hear a live excerpt of his Oberon in Midsummer Night’s Dream opposite the late British soprano Joan Carlyle, as well as a surprising outing as one of the commedia dell’arte players in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, opposite the Zerbinetta of the great African American coloratura soprano Mattiwilda Dobbs. There are additional surprises along the way. The episode opens with a heartfelt tribute to Drew, my reunion with whom prompted this episode in the first place.

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 359. Get to Know Hugo Hasslo

May 17, 2025Art Song, Bel canto, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Orchestral Songs, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAase Nordmo Løvberg, Alexander Pushkin, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Arne Tyrén, Bo Bergman, Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, Cosi fan tutte, Didier Gold, DuBose Heyward, Elisabeth Soderstrom, Eric Sædén, Francesco Maria Piave, Fritz Busch, George Gershwin, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Verdi, Henry Lindroth, Herbert Sandberg, Hugo Hasslo, Il tabarro, Il Trovatore, Ira Gershwin, Lorenzo da Ponte, Ludwig van Beethoven, Margareta Hallin, Nils Grevillius, Pagliacci, Porgy and Bess, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Rigoletto, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Salvadore Cammarano, Sena Jurinac, Sixten Ehrling, Sten Frykberg, Stig Westerberg, Styrbjörn Lindedal, Ture Rangström, Victor Hugo, Wilhelm Schüchter, Wilhelm Stenhammar, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yevgeny Onegincountermelody

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The earliest selection on last week’s Elisabeth Söderström episode featured the soprano at 24 singing the title role of Madama Butterfly. In that live recording, we also heard as Sharpless her compatriot the baritone Hugo Hasslo, to whom I introduced my listeners last fall. Today I dive a little bit deeper into Hasslo’s extant recordings. Considering what a great singer he was, and how his reputation has merely grown with the passage of time, it’s shocking how rarely Hasslo recorded in the studio. Therefore the majority of this episode consists of live recordings, from as far back as Hasslo’s operatic debut in 1940 as Guglielmo under the baton of Fritz Busch, through to his performance as di Luna alongside Jussi Björling’s final operatic appearance in Sweden twenty years later. Along the way we hear excerpts from Rigoletto, Il tabarro, Yevgeny Onegin (or should I say Eugen Onegin), Il trovatore, and… Porgy and Bess (?!?!). I also include a sample of the singing of Hasslo’s teacher, the Scottish tenor Joseph Hislop to show that the apple did not fall far from the tree! Other singers appearing on the episode include Sena Jurinac, Einar Andersson, Sigurd Björling, Eric Sædén, Margareta Hallin, Arne Tyrén, Aase Nordmo Løvberg, Apollo Granforte, and a surprise visit from last week’s subject, the transcendent Elisabeth Söderström.

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 356. Get to Know Irina Arkhipova

May 6, 2025Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Honor Your Mentors, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Orchestral Songs, Twentieth Century MusicAfanasy Afanasyevich Fet, Aleksandra Santagano-Gorchakova, Aleksei Apokhtin, Aleksey Pleshcheyev, Alexander Melik-Pashayev, Alexander Ostrovsky, Alexander Pushkin, Alfred de Musset, Anton Arensky, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Augustine-Malvina Souville Blachecotte, Boris Khaikin, Carmen, Daniil Rathaus, Édouard Turquety, Ekaterina Beketova, Georges Bizet, Giuseppe Verdi, Heinrich Heine, Henri Meilhac, Igor Guselnikov, Il Trovatore, Irina Arkhipova, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Wustman, Khovanshchina, Lev Aleksandrovich Mey, Ludovic Halévy, Maria Davidova, Modest Mussorgsky, Prosper Mérimée, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Salvadore Cammarano, Semyon Stuchevsky, Sergei Rachmaninov, Vladislav Piavko, Zurab Andzhaparizyecountermelody

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Directly after the disastrous November election in the United States, I compiled a setlist for two episodes self-explanitorially entitled “Mezzos on the Verge” and “Mezzos in Extremis.” One of the featured singers was the great Russian mezzo-soprano Irina Arkhipova, whose 100th birthday on January 2 of this year was one of the few positive things to happen in January! I happened to have a number of LPs featuring Arkhipova, and this episode features material from a number of those records, plus a CD reissue from a few years back entitled “The Art of Irina Arkhipova,” which features the 1970 recording of Mussorgsky and Rachmaninov songs that the singer made in Moscow with my teacher John Wustman while they were judges in that year’s Tchaikovsky Competition. Arkhipova is also featured in songs by Tchaikovsky; Russian opera arias by Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky; and selections from both Carmen and Il Trovatore, which feature tenors Zurab Andzhaparidzye and Vladislav Piavko, the latter of whom was also Arkhipova’s protégé (and later husband).

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 355. John Wustman (Honor Your Mentors I)

May 2, 2025Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Canadian Singers, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Honor Your Mentors, In Memoriam, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Twentieth Century MusicAdam Haas, Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov, Brigitte Fassbaender, Carl Loewe, Carlo Pepoli, Chanda VanderHart, Chansons de Bilitis, Chants d’Auvergne, Claude Debussy, Claus Ogerman, Donald Bell, Eduard Mörike, Elvia Puccinelli, Felice Romani, Francesco Maria Piave, Francesco Petrarca, Francis Poulenc, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Gabriel Faure, Gabriele M. Muncker, Gaetano Donizetti, Georg Friedrich Daumer, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Guillaume Apollinaire, Hugo Wolf, Irina Arkhipova, Joan Caplan, Johann Gottfried von Herder, Johann von Mayrhofer, Johannes Brahms, John Wustman, Joseph Canteloube, Joseph von Eichendorff, Kathleen Kelly, Luciano Pavarotti, Lucrezia Borgia, Mildred Miller, Modest Mussorgsky, Paul Verlaine, Pierre Louÿs, Rabindranath Tagore, Regine Crespin, Rigoletto, Robert Schumann, Robert Shaw, Serate musicali, Soirées musicales, Songs and Dances of Death, Susan Dunn, Thomas Potter, Tre Sonetti di Petrarca, Victor Hugocountermelody

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I have been reminded over and over again in recent weeks of the preciousness of life as numerous dear friends and family members face loss of loved ones and their own life-altering health crises. This got me to thinking about how much my mentors have shaped my life. So with this latest episode I inaugurate a new Countermelody series entitled “Honor Your Mentors.”

I have already posted numerous times on the podcast about my beloved teacher John Wustman. This coming July my friend and colleague Chanda VanderHart’s monumental book Accompaniment in America: Contextualizing Collaborative Piano, co-authored with Kathleen Kelly and Elvia Puccinelli, will be published by Routledge. Chanda has put together an astonishing digital archive featuring a wealth of material related to the book: https://accompanimentinamerica.website/index.html Included in this material is an interview I did with Chanda about Mr. Wustman. Chanda has given me permission to include that interview on my podcast. This is supplemented by a sampling of (mostly) studio recordings of John featuring, among others, Régine Crespin, Carlo Bergonzi, Brigitte Fassbaender, Luciano Pavarotti, and Irina Arkhipova: truly an astonishing feast for the ears!

Additionally, I was enormously saddened last week to read of the death of Joan Caplan, my first serious voice teacher in New York, and a phenomenal singer in her own right. Joan also remained a close friend through the years. In recent years she had been living at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey. I was able to visit her there last summer and had intended to go see her again later this month. Alas, that can no longer happen, but I will also be featuring Joan in an upcoming episode in the “Honor Your Mentors” series. In her memory today, I present her in a scintillating recording of Orsini’s Brindisi from Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia.

Finally, though I’m sure no one needs to be reminded of this, please, my dears, tell all those you love how much they mean to you; don’t wait until their funerals to give them their flowers!

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.