Category Archives: Singers in Old Age

Episode 199. Tina and the Expats

June 2, 2023African American Singers, Black History Month, Broadway, Crossover, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Queer Pride, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAdelaide Hall, Al Green, Ann Peebles, Arthur Freed, Barbara Ruskin, Barrett Strong, Beauty Milton, Bertice Reading, Betty Dorsey, Billy Sherrill, British Electric Foundation, Cher, Claus Doll, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Donna Gaines, Donna Summer, Duke Ellington, Elisabeth Welch, Erwin Halletz, Felicia Weathers, Fred Neil, Galt MacDermot, Gene McFadden, Gerome Ragni, Harold M. Kirchstein, Heaven 17, Ike Turner, Irving Gordon, Irving Kahal, Irving Mills, J.C. Johnson, Jacques Brel, James Rado, Jimmy Kennedy, John Lennon, John Whitehead, Joséphine Baker, Jürgen Phil, Keith Mansfield, Ken Leray, Leon Huff, Lotar Olias, Manos Hadzidakis, Michael Carr, Nacio Herb Brown, Nina Simone, Norman Whitfield, Olive Moorefield, Peter Knight, Peter Lahn, Pierre Spiers, Ralf Cromy, Roger Desbois, Roger Spooner, Salena Jones, Sammy Fain, Steve Gillette, Sylvia Robinson, Tammy Wynette, Tina Turner, Vickie Henderson, Walter Brandin, Zack Laurencecountermelody

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If you’re like me (and I hope that, at least in this way, you are!) you have adored Tina Turner since you first became aware of her. In my case, it was circa 1971, seeing her perform “Proud Mary” on television. At the time I was a pretty snooty (and snotty) kid much more prone to Mahler and Britten than I was to pop music. But something about Tina got to me. And when, against all odds, her star rose again in the 1980s, I was once again drawn into her orbit. So when she died last week in Switzerland, aged 83, I was really thrown for a loop. For a week I racked my brains about how I could pay proper tribute to a figure who, as one of the biggest pop stars in the world, not only changed the face of music, but also of our culture in general. Normally I prefer to stay focused on an artist’s work, but in Tina’s case, her compelling personal story also commanded attention, and in a way the two are inseparable. As much as we rightly revile Ike Turner for his inexcusable abuse and torture of his wife and everyone else around him, he was also a musical innovator in the rock ‘n’ roll scene and one who, one hopes at least, recognized the genius of Anna Mae Bullock, whom he plucked from obscurity to assume the persona of his wife and co-creator. Even if his contributions are now irreparably tainted, it was Tina who was the lifeblood of that duo, and who became known as the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. In my podcast I often focus on US artists, predominantly those of color, who chose to relocate to Europe and forge careers there. I have devoted a lot of time, space, and research to the Black opera singers who came here, but there is an equally fascinating story to be told about the pop singers of many eras and genres, who also chose to make Europe their home. Though this episode focuses primarily on Tina and some of the less-explored material throughout her career, I seek to contextualize her by also discussing the many African American singers, from Adelaide Hall to Joséphine Baker, from Donna Summer to Dee Dee Bridgewater, who either spent formative time in Europe or settled there permanently. Along with the aforementioned favorites, I also focus on lesser-known artists such as Beauty Milton, Vickie Henderson, Betty Dorsey, Salena Jones, and Bertice Reading (my latest mega-discovery). It has been cathartic and inspirational for me to create this episode; I hope it provides a similar experience for you.

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

Episode 197. Theatre Dreams

May 19, 2023African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Broadway, Comic Relief, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Renata Scotto, Richard Wagner, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Voiceless Wonders, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAbbé Prevost, Alain Boublil, Alice Ripley, Arnold Schoenberg, Arrigo Boito, Arthur Endrèze, Benjamin Britten, Birgit Nilsson, Biserka Cvejić, Bohuslav Martinů, Brigitte Fassbaender, Carl Maria von Weber, Cesare Valletti, Charles Gounod, Charles Kullman, Claude Devos, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Cy Coleman, Daniel Gundlach, Der Freischütz, Der Zigeunerbaron, Deva Dassy, Dorothy Fields, Edith Mathis, Eduard Künneke, Eleanor Steber, Elektra, Emily Skinner, Ettore Panizza, Eugen Jochum, Fiddler on the Roof, Frank Porretta, Franz Allers, Frieder Weissmann, Gabriel Faure, Georg Solti, Georges Neveux, Geraint Evans, Giovanni Martinelli, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace Bumbry, Hanna Binyamini, Harold Barlow, Henri Defosse, Henri Meilhac, Hildegard Behrens, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Ira Gershwin, Iris (Mascagni), Ivo Žídek, Izhak Graziani, Jacques Brel, Jacques Offenbach, James Levine, Janet Baker, Jaroslav Krombholc, Jean Laforge, Jerry Bock, Joe Darion, Johann Strauss II, José Van Dam, Jules Barbier, Jules Gressier, Jules Massenet, Kurt Weill, La Belle Helene, Lady in the Dark, Lawrence Tibbett, Lea Dulitzkaya, Lee Venora, Leopold Ludwig, Léopold Marchand, Les Misérables, Lloyd Arriola, Lohengrin, Louis Beydts, Ludovic Halévy, Luigi Illica, Man of La Mancha, Manon, Mária Tauberová, Marie Pappenheim, Martin Isepp, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Melitta Muszely, Michel Carré, Mitch Leigh, Nello Santi, Nicolai Gedda, Oklahoma!, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otello, Patrick Baton, Philippe Gille, Pierre Monteux, Pietro Mascagni, Renata Scotto, René Leibowitz, Richard Rodgers, Richard Strauss, Richard Tauber, Richard Wagner, Robert Massard, Robert Stolz, Roland Gilbert, Romand Bussine, Roméo et Juliette, Sheldon Harnick, Shmuel Rudenski, Shraga Friedman, Spiros Argiris, Sweet Charity, The King and I, Todd Ellison, Victoria de los Angeles, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Zafrira Yaronicountermelody

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I’ve been plotting an episode on the subject of Dreams for a while. Given the profusion of music that references that altered state of consciousness, my challenge was narrowing down the topic. I chose to focus today on theater music (opera, operetta, and musicals) that references actual rather than figurative dreams. Even within these parameters, there was a plethora of material and as usual my repertoire choices are strangely and uniquely my own. So on this episode you’ll hear everything from a 1965 recording of Tevye’s Dream from Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, from the first Israeli production of the musical; Renata Scotto in late career essaying the haunted dreamscapes of Arnold Schoenberg’s monodrama Erwartung; Mattiwilda Dobbs in a rare 1952 recording of “Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben” from Mozart’s Zaide; excerpts from unusual French and German operettas featuring Robert Massard and Charles Kullman, respectively; birthday tributes to Birgit Nilsson and Richard Tauber; and the great Welsh bass Geraint Evans in a live performance of Bottom’s Dream from Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And much, much more, including a teaser of next week’s subject the Italian lyric tenor Cesare Valletti; and Janet Baker live in recital in 1966, a preview of the first in a series of bonus episodes that will feature rare LPs from my personal collection. As always, thanks for your support; enjoy!

Episode 196. Grace Bumbry In Memoriam

May 11, 2023African American Singers, Art Song, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Singers of ColorAdolf Heyduk, Antonín Dvořák, Beaumont Glass, Christian L’Egru, Christian Schubart, Erik Werba, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Rückert, Geoffrey Parsons, Georg Friedrich Daumer, Grace Bumbry, Hans Schmidt, Harry T. Burleigh, Heinrich Heine, Helmut Deutsch, Hermann Kletke, Hugo Wolf, Jakob Niklaus von Craigher, Johann Gabriel Seidl, Johann Georg Jacobi, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johannes Brahms, Joseph von Eichendorff, Julius Mosen, Leonard Hokanson, Lotte Lehmann, Matthias Claudius, Robert Schumann, Sebastian Peschkocountermelody

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This past week the world of opera was plunged in mourning at the news of the death of the unique, the irreplaceable Grace Bumbry (04 January 1937 – 07 May 2023), an artist equal parts daredevil and refined, whose artistry enchanted us for more than sixty years. In recent months many of us anxiously awaited news of her health after she suffered a stroke last October, from which she miraculously if temporarily rebounded. Though the news of her death was therefore not unexpected, it is both momentous and sombre in that it signals the end of an era. In October I produced a pair of episodes in her honor, the second of which, published exclusively on Patreon, celebrated her prowess as a Lieder singer. As such, she carried on the tradition and bore the mantel of the great Lotte Lehmann, her teacher and mentor; Bumbry said of her: “Lotte Lehmann will always remain for me the most important person in my entire musical life.” The episode features examples of Bumbry’s Lieder singing over the course of more than forty years, with a particular focus on her rare 1976 EMI release with pianist Geoffrey Parsons of Songs by Schumann and Schubert, which is heard in its entirety. Though I am bereft at her passing, I celebrate her mastery of a subtle and refined art form which formed the cornerstone of her artistry.

Episode 194. Great Mozart Tenors

April 28, 2023African American Singers, Canadian Singers, Great Tenors, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Opera in Translation, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Voiceless Wonders, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlex Banfield, Alfredo Kraus, Anton Dermota, Arthur Goldschmidt, Bernard Haitink, Cesare Valletti, Charles Holland, Charles Mackerras, Claude Génetay, Clemens Schmalstich, Cosi fan tutte, David Rendall, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Die Zauberflöte, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Don Giovanni, Emanuel Schikaneder, Ernst Haefliger, Ferdinand Leitner, Ferenc Fricsay, Francisco Araiza, Fritz Wunderlich, Georg Solti, George Shirley, Gerhard Wimberger, Gösta Winbergh, Guido Cantelli, György Fischer, Hans Müller-Kray, Herbert von Karajan, Hermann Jadlowker, Idomeneo, István Kertész, Jeffrey Tate, Jerry Hadley, John Aler, John Alexander, John McCormack, John van Kesteren, Jörg Ewald Dähler, Josef Dünnwald, Joseph Rosenstock, Julius Rudel, Kálmán Pataky, Karl Alwin, Karl Böhm, Karl Erb, La Clemenza di Tito, La finta giardiniera, Le nozze di Figaro, Leontyne Price, Leopold Simoneau, Lorenzo da Ponte, Luigi Alva, Marcel Wittrisch, Margaret Price, Maria Ivogün, Mitridate, Nicolai Gedda, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Otto Ackermann, Peter Schreier, Philip Langridge, Pietro Metastasio, Pilar Lorengar, Richard Tauber, Roberta Alexander, Ryland Davies, Semyon Bychkov, Stuart Burrows, Waldemar Kmentt, Wiesław Ochman, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Zaidecountermelody

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Today’s is a mammoth episode, one of my longest ever, so I suggest you listen to it in easily digestible segments. It’s mammoth because it’s a gigantic subject: great Mozart tenors of the 20th century, covering more than 100 years of recorded documents of the finest examples of tenorial interpretations of the big Mozart operas as well as some of his lesser-known works, including his concert arias. You will be dazzled (and that is a promise and a guarantee) by performances by Fritz Wunderlich (for many of us, the ne plus ultra of lyric tenors), George Shirley, Richard Tauber, Anton Dermota, Léopold Simoneau, Nicolai Gedda, Gösta Winbergh, John McCormack, David Rendall, Peter Schreier, and countless others, including lesser-known figures such as John van Kesteren, Kálmán Pataky, and Wiesław Ochman, and duets featuring Pilar Lorengar, Leontyne Price, Roberta Alexander, and Margaret Price. I also feature a peek into the future with a special salute to the young tenor Alex Banfield, whose work has impressed me enormously. The entire episode is dedicated to the memory of my friend Jerry Hadley, one of the supreme Mozart tenors of all time.

Episode 191. Music for Holy Week

April 6, 2023African American Singers, Art Song, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, Holiday Music, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Muriel Smith, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Voiceless WondersAlfred Zighera, Benjamin Luxon, Bernd Weikl, Betty Allen, Briana Hunter, Carlos Mena, Cesar Franck, Daniel Pinkham, Das Marienleben (Hindemith), David Porcelijn, David Rendall, David Shallon, David Willison, Dialogues des Carmélites, Diana Montague, Edith Mathis, Eduard Mörike, Ein deutsches Requiem, Elijah (Mendelssohn), Erich Itor Kahn, Eugene Holmes, Felix Mendelssohn, Florence Quivar, Francis Poulenc, François Couperin (le Grand), Frank Martin, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Schlegel, Georges Bernanos, Gerald Finzi, Gerald Moore, Gerd Albrecht, Gerd Hirtz, Gertrud von le Fort, Gioacchino Rossini, Giovanni Felice Sances, Hans Hotter, Harry T. Burleigh, Hendrik Andriessen, Henri Ghéon, Holy Week, Hugo Wolf, Hugues Cuenod, Huw Montague Rendall, James Bowman, Jean Fournet, Jennie Tourel, Johannes Brahms, Joséphine Colomb, Julia Perry, Leçons de Ténèbres, Leon Botstein, Lotte Lehmann, Maria Triptychon (Martin), Max Brod, Michel Corboz, Miroir de Peine (Andriessen), Mitsuko Shirai, Muriel Smith, Nino Sanzogno, Owain Arwel Hughes, Paul Dessau, Philippe Pierlot, Rainer Maria Rilke, Robert Brink, Robert Shaw, Robert Spencer, Roberta Alexander, Scipio Colombo, Sergiu Celibidache, Sheila Armstrong, Spirituals, Stabat Mater, Virgil Thomson, Virginia Zeani, Werner Krenn, William Shakespeare, William Waterhouse, Wolfgang Schneiderhancountermelody

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Welcome to all listeners both old and new to the podcast! This week I am focusing on music related to the Christian observation of Holy Week: oratorios, motets, cantatas, songs and song cycles, even operas from Renaissance to contemporary, performed by a wide range of singers. Alongside podcast favorites Jennie Tourel, Roberta Alexander, Eugene Holmes, Hugues Cuénod, Mitsuko Shirai, Muriel Smith, and others, I also feature performances by recently departed vocal giants Virginia Zeani and James Bowman (both of whom will be foregrounded in next week’s episode), as well as the sublime British mezzo-soprano Diana Montague, who celebrates her birthday this week. We also hear her husband, the magnificent tenor David Rendall, as well as their extraordinarily gifted son, baritone Huw Montague Rendall, whom I was privileged to meet in Berlin this past week. We also hear a variety of settings of the 13th century Stabat Mater text from Giovanni Felice Sances in the 17th century to the more thorny twentieth-century idiom of the Swiss Frank Martin and the African American Julia Perry. Contemplative art songs by Schubert, Wolf, Hindemith, Finzi, and Andriessen round out the episode.

Episode 190. Make Your Own Kind of Music: Verdi Edition

March 31, 2023Bel canto, Comic Relief, Giuseppe Verdi, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, Queer Pride, Singers in Old Age, Voiceless WondersAida, Alberto Paoletti, Alternate Universe Bel Canto, Barry Mann, Cass Elliot, Cynthia Weil, Domingos Monteiro, Gino Sarri, Giuseppe Verdi, Grazi Barbosa, Howard Salat, Il Trovatore, Joe Raposo, Julie Andrews, La forza del destino, La Puma Opera Company, La Traviata, Luigi Ricci, Make Your Own Kind of Music, Mari Lyn, Natalia de Andrade, Olive Middleton, Sylvia Sawyer, The Golden Treasury of Song, The Howard Salat Quartet Local 802, Un ballo in maschera, Wingcountermelody

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It’s time for my fourth annual April Fools Day episode! The first one that I published exactly four years ago, entitled Alternate Universe Bel Canto, has proven to be one of my most popular, and one that was the gateway episode for many of my most devoted listeners. Furthermore, this one came specifically at the request of one of my newest Patreon supporters (hint, hint to those of you who are not yet supporting the podcast there!) Instead of an overview of all those “outsider music” opera singers out there, I have chosen to focus in on three sopranos in particular whom I find to be the most original, entertaining: Mari Lyn (AKA Marilyn Sussman), Olive Middleton (AKA Olive Townend), and Natália de Andrade. Each of these women created her own platform. Mari Lyn was the Singing Hostess of the 1980s New York-based cable network series The Golden Treasury of Song. After a career in the 1920s singing roles such as Musetta under Thomas Beecham at Covent Garden, British soprano Olive Middleton became, much later in life, the lead diva of New York’s La Puma Opera Company, giving quixotic performances with that company well into her seventies (and well past her vocal expiration date!), performances that gained her a fanbase that included lead singers of the Metropolitan Opera as well as the fussiest of opera queens. And the Portuguese soprano Natália de Andrade (my favorite!) gained fame and notoriety in her native country and beyond for her self-financed recordings, particularly the late-career ones published in the 1980s, which gained her the grudging respect given to those most deluded of holy fools. And lest one think that this episode deals only with sopranos, I also give a nod to the raucous-voiced American mezzo-soprano Sylvia Sawyer, who appeared in the 1950s on complete opera recordings issued on the Capitol Records label and produced, incredibly, under the auspices of the Rome Opera. To be clear: though I find each of these deluded divas to be, each in her own distinctive way, hilarious, in the end, each of them earns my respect for her enterprising undertakings, her firm belief in her own talent, and her unique approach to tuning, phrasing, and language, here perpetrated exclusively on the music of Giuseppe Verdi, who must surely be turning over in his grave right about now!

Episode 189. Marni Nixon

March 24, 2023Art Song, Crossover, Full-Figured Baroque, In Memoriam, Interview, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century MusicAlan Jay Lerner, Alfred Newman, Allegro (Rodgers and Hammerstein), An Affair to Remember, Andre Previn, Andrew Gold, Anton Webern, Armen Guzelimian, Arnold Schoenberg, Arthur Gleghorn, Audrey Hepburn, Barbara Shik, Boomerang, Chants d’Auvergne, Charles Ives, Charles Prince, Cissy Houston, Claude Debussy, Daniel Roth, Deborah Kerr, Dorothy Remsen, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Emanuel Schikaneder, Ernest Gold, Frank Wedekind, Frederick Loewe, Gabriel Faure, Gary William Friedman, George Antheil, Harold Adamson, Harry Warren, Hildegard Jone, Igor Stravinsky, Jack Marshall, Jerome Kern, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Mauceri, John McCabe, Joseph Canteloube, Leo McCarey, Leonard Bernstein, Leonard Stein, Lincoln Mayorga, Lionel Newman, Lotte Lehmann, Louis Untermeyer, Mace Barrett, Margaret Whiting, Marni Nixon, Mary Poppins, Maurice Maeterlinck, Melissa Errico, My Fair Lady, Natalie Wood, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Verlaine, Pierrot lunaire, Richard Dehmel, Richard M. Sherman, Richard Rodgers, Robert B. Sherman, Robert Craft, Robert Stolz, Sheila Smith, Stan Keen, Stephen Sondheim, Susan Egan, Ted Thurston, The King and I, The Sound of Music, Thomas Bagwell, Tiger Haynes, Tutti Camarata, Vera Schwarz, Victor Griffin, Wesley Kuhnle, West Side Story, Will Holtcountermelody

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Today, in another of my Women’s History Month episodes, I present to you the extraordinarily versatile, even chameleon-like singer and actor Marni Nixon (22 February 1930 – 24 July 2016), who is no doubt best-known today as the so-called “Ghostess with the Mostest.” Born into a musical family in California, she became involved from an early age with the movies, and by a marvelous set of circumstances became The Voice for a number of Hollywood actresses not known for their singing voices, among them Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Her skill in matching the vocal and speech characteristics of each of these performers is exceptional, but she was so much more than that. She pioneered the work of many 20th century giants, including Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Charles Ives, and Anton Webern. She hosted a local Seattled children’s television program called Boomerang that netted her four Emmy Awards. She performed on opera stages and concert platforms around the world. She recorded widely, everything from Mary Poppins to Pierrot Lunaire, and in the mid-1970s was the first singer to perform and record Schoenberg’s cabaret songs, his so-called Brettl-Lieder, works that are now standard repertoire. She studied with Viennese soprano Vera Schwarz as well as the iconic Lotte Lehmann, and actively performed and recorded for more than 50 years. Her late career saw an extraordinary return to the musical stage, where she starred in both new work and revivals both on and Off-Broadway. Guiding us along the trajectory of her career is my good friend Thomas Bagwell, currently a coach and conductor at The Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, who was a colleague and good friend of Marni Nixon’s for the last 25 years of her life. His anecdotes and reminscences are interspersed with examples (often familiar, more often rare) of Marni’s vast recorded legacy, which give testament not only to her versatility, but to her flawless musicality and depth of expression.

Episode 181. Nicolai Gedda in Song

January 27, 2023Art Song, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Orchestral Songs, Richard Strauss, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century MusicAldo Ciccolini, Alexander Pushkin, Alexander Tcherepnin, Alexander Varlamov, Alexis Weissenberg, Anthony Miranda, Ben Jonson, Benjamin Britten, Charles Gounod, Dalton Baldwin, Dichterliebe, Die schöne Müllerin, Edda Moser, Edvard Grieg, Erik Werba, Francis Poulenc, Franz Schubert, Frederic Waldman, Gabriel Faure, Geoffrey Parsons, Gerald Moore, Gerhard Singer, Hector Berlioz, Heinrich Heine, Henri Duparc, Hermann Reutter, Jan Eyron, Jean Sibelius, Johann Mayrhofer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Leconte de Lisle, Leos Janacek, Nicolai Gedda, Nikolai Tcherepnin, Ottorino Respighi, Paul Éluard, Richard Strauss, Sergei Rachmaninov, Silvio Varviso, Spanisches Liederspiel, Théophile Gautier, Wilhelm Müller, William Faulkner, Wolfgang Sawallischcountermelody

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Today’s episode is a special request from one of my most dedicated listeners, and one with which I am happy to comply. It is already seven years this month since the death of the great Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda (11 July 1925 – 8 January 2017). One of the most cultivated singers of the twentieth century, Gedda not only had a rock-solid technique and an instantly recognizable timbre, but he was a brilliant musician and a polyglot of the first order, singing a wide range of repertoire and styles in a host of languages. He was also a prolific recording artist. Though he sang an enormous range of operatic roles, in this episode, I have decided to focus entirely on a slightly lesser-known aspect of his career: his work in art song. Gedda was a master of French style, but also celebrated for his performances of Russian music. And one of the three languages he spoke while he was growing up was German, which lends his work in that language a real authenticity as well. In listening to recordings of song repertoire, I was struck by the frequent added spontaneity and commitment of his live versus his studio performances, so the episode features a large number of selections culled from Gedda’s live recitals. Gedda is accompanied by some of the most exceptional pianists of his time: Alexis Weissenberg, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Gerald Moore, Geoffrey Parsons, Dalton Baldwin, Erik Werba, Hermann Reutter, and his compatriot and most frequent collaborator Jan Eyron. Another extraordinary aspect of Gedda’s singing was his longevity. We hear him in songs by Strauss, Berlioz, Schubert, Janáček, Duparc, Grieg, Schumann, Fauré, Respighi, and Gounod, recorded over a period of nearly 40 years. Here is another singer who was active into the twilight of his life and sang into his seventies with both the intimacy and clarion power that were his musical trademarks.

Episode 178. Andrzej Hiolski

January 6, 2023Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Gustav Mahler, Happy Birthday, Holiday Music, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Orchestral Songs, Queer Pride, Richard Wagner, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAdam Mickiewicz, Adamo Didur, Aldous Huxley, Alexander Pushkin, Alina Bolechowska, Andrea Chénier, Andrzej Boruta, Andrzej Hiolski, Arnold Rezler, Augustyn Bloch, Bohdan Wodiczko, Consuelo Velazquez, Die Teufel von Loudun, Don Carlo, Don Giovanni, Eugenia Wnukowska, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, Friedrich Schiller, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Halka (Moniuszko), Heinrich Heine, Helena Christenko. Karol Szymanowski, Helmut Melchert, Henryk Czyz, Henryk Debich, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Jacek Urbaniak, Jan Chęciński, Jan Krenz, Jerzy Gert, Jerzy Kotyczka, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Jerzy Marchwiński, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Whiting, Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, King Roger (Szymanowski), Konrad Bryzek, Krzysztof Penderecki, Lorenzo da Ponte, Luigi Illica, Marek Janowski, Mieczysław Karłowicz, Mieczysław Mierzejewski, Pagliacci, Paolo Tosti, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Richard Wagner, Ruggero Leoncavallo, St. Luke Passion (Penderecki), Stanisław Moniuszko, Straszny dwór (Moniuszko), Tadeusz Baird, Tadeusz Szeligowski, Tannhäuser, Tatiana Troyanos, The Devils of Loudun, Umberto Giordano, Un ballo in maschera, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Włodzimierz Lwowicz, Włodzimierz Wolski, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yevgeny Onegin, Zygmunt Krasińskicountermelody

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This week I have been tantalizing my followers with the promise of a tall, dark, handsome singer who was born on January 1. I shall keep you in suspense no longer: he is the great Polish baritone Andrzej Hiolski, born in Lvov in New Year’s Day 1922 and died in Krakow on 26 February 2000. I have known of Hiolski for years because of his association with the works of the late Krzysztof Penderecki, but I began digging deeper into his legacy a few years ago and was absolutely stunned at what I found: a singer with a near-perfect technique with a powerful voice with a slightly burred timbre characterized by both beauty, range, and subtlety of expression. I have been collecting his recordings for a few years now and have featured him at every possible opportunity on the podcast, including twice already in the current season. But this episode is devoted entirely to him and it may well serve, strange as it may seem for an artist who is so revered and treasured in his native country, as an introduction for many of my listeners to one of the great baritone voices of the twentieth century. The episode features recordings and performances, many of them exceedingly rare, ranging over more than 50 years, and includes music by Verdi, Wagner, Schubert, Mahler, Bach, Leoncavallo, Mozart, Tosti, Rossini, Tchaikovsky, and Giordano, but also a generous helping of music by Hiolski’s compatriots, including Karol Szymanowski, Frédéric Chopin, Augustyn Bloch, Mieczysław Karłowicz, Stanisław Moniuszko, Tadeusz Baird, Tadeusz Szeligowski, as well as, of course, Penderecki. Guest vocalists include the supercharged Greek-American mezzo Tatiana Troyanos and the delectable Polish soprano Alina Bolechowska, as well as the venerable Polish bass Adamo Didur, an early mentor of Hiolski’s. who now joins company with Jorma Hynninen and Gérard Souzay in the triumvirate of my favorite baritones of all time!

Episode 177. Great Singers at Twilight

December 30, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Black History Month, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, Holiday Music, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Schubert, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Verismo, Voiceless WondersA Little Night Music, Adelaide Hall, Adelina Patti, Alan Jay Lerner, Alban Berg, Alberta Hunter, Alexander Pushkin, Armand Silvestre, Benjamin Britten, Billy Budd, Brandi Carlile, Burt Bacharach, Cesar Franck, Cole Porter, David Atherton, Duke Ellington, Eileen Farrell, Elisabeth Welch, Frank Wedekind, Franz Schubert, Freda Payne, Gabriel Faure, George Gershwin, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace Bumbry, Günter Neuhold, Hans Altmann, Hans Hotter, Harold Arlen, Harry Plunket Greene, Helen Donath, Herman Melville, Hugues Cuenod, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jeffrey Tate, Johnny Mathis, Johnny Mercer, Joni Mitchell, Jules Massenet, Karl Erb, Klaus Donath, Kurt Weill, La sonnambula, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Lotte Lenya, Love Life (Weill), Lulu (Berg), Magda Olivero, Marco Montanari, Mark Reizen, Marlene Dietrich, Patricia Wise, Paul Gemignani, Pique-Dame, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Regina Resnik, Richard Lewis, Rita Gorr, Robert McFerrin, Rose Dobos, Stephen Sondheim, Sylvia Olden Lee, Ted Koehler, Un ballo in maschera, Vincenzo Bellini, Wilhelm Müller, Winterreise, Yevgeny Onegin, Yip Harburg, Yuri Simonovcountermelody

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For the last episode of 2022, I begin a series of episodes which was one of the reasons I began Countermelody in the fall of 2019: a celebration of great singing from great singers in the late years of their lives and careers. In the early years of the recording industry, a long-retired artist such as Adelina Patti would consent to leave recorded documents of their voices for future generations to experience. Oftentimes a cherished artist will make a guest cameo appearance at an important event (think of Leontyne Price coming out of retirement at age 74 and singing “God Bless America” at the September 30, 2001 memorial concert at Carnegie Hall). Other times, artists like Johnny Mathis, Regina Resnik, or Helen Donath, simply never retire, but continue to bestow their artistry upon us decade after decade. Sometimes, as is the case of Lotte Lenya, a performer finds herself later in her life on a mission which demands that she resume performing, in Lenya’s case, as a means of securing the musical legacy of her late husband Kurt Weill. There is also, in the case of someone like Alberta Hunter or Elisabeth Welch, the thrill of a jazz or pop artist at the end of her life experiencing a career resurgence at the end of a long life. In the classical world, artists late in their lives can still give extraordinary performances of art song, which makes fewer demands on their voices than taxing operatic roles, while allowing full display of their deepened artistry and experience. There are also operatic roles specifically designed for the more mature artist: roles like Schigolch in Lulu, or the Countess in Pique-Dame, among many others, which are sampled here in performances by Hans Hotter and Rita Gorr, respectively. There are also those rare and exceptional artists who are able to perform movingly even into their nineties, like the Ukrainian bass Mark Reizen, or the verismo soprano Magda Olivero; or after having suffered catastrophic physical setbacks, like the German tenor Karl Erb, the African American baritone Robert McFerrin, or the pop icon Joni Mitchell. These artists (along with many others) and this topic seems deeply appropriate as 2022 draws to a close and we look forward to the inevitable challenges, the blank slate, the looming horizon, of the year to come.

Episode 149. Music Black and Queer

June 17, 2022African American Singers, BHM2023WK2, Black History Month, Drag Performance, Interview, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Queer Pride, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAgustín Lara, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Billy Preston, Billy Strayhorn, Bobby Short, Carmen McRae, Carolyn Franklin, Charlie Shavers, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Esquerita, Frankie "Half-Pint” Jaxon, Gladys Bentley, Irving Berlin, Irving Mills, Jackie Shane, Jacques Prévert, Jo Bouillon, Joan Armatrading, Johnny Mathis, Joseph Kosma, Joséphine Baker, Larry Owens, Mabel Mercer, Michael R. Jackson, Nona Hendryx, Oscar Peterson, Rona Siddiqiui, Sylvester, Tracy Chapman, Wendell Marshallcountermelody

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Over the course of history, for Persons of Color who also happen to be queer, the interface between these two populations is sometimes an enormously challenging one, but one which also frequently produces path-breaking musical artists of enormous courage and originality. In celebration of Juneteenth this coming weekend, and as a follow-up to my Queer Blues episode published last year, I once again pay tribute to an extraordinary array of Black and Queer musical artists across a wide spectrum of popular musical styles, be it Blues, jazz. middle-of-the-road pop, musicals, rock ‘n’ roll, disco, and folk. Artists represented include Billy Strayhorn, Billie Holiday, Johnny Mathis, Tracy Chapman, Mabel Mercer, Joan Armatrading, Nona Hendryx, Sylvester, Joséphine Baker, Jackie Shane, Carmen McRae, Billy Preston, Esquerita, and Carolyn Franklin, Michael R. Jackson, the 2022 Tony Award winner for A Strange Loop, is introduced by my dear friend the theater scholar David Savran, who describes what makes this piece and its creator so daring and original.

Episode 95. Queer Blues and Beyond (Pride 2021)

June 27, 2021African American Singers, BHM2023WK2, Black History Month, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Queer Pride, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Voiceless WondersAda “Bricktop” Smith, Alberta Hunter, Bessie Smith, Big Mama Thornton, Billie Holiday, Bricktop, Carmen McRae, Dinah Washington, Ethel Waters, Gladys Bentley, Joan Armatrading, Joséphine Baker, Laura Love, Lucille Bogan, Lucille Hegamin, Ma Rainey, Mabel Mercer, Meshell Ndegeocello, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Tiny Davis, Toshi Reagon, Victoria Spiveycountermelody

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For my second Queer Pride episode this month, I offer you a panoply of blues and other popular music sung by women of color over the past 100 years and over a wide range of the LGBTQ spectrum. The focus is on the queer and bisexual women of color who enlivened the Harlem blues scene in the 1920s, including the newly popular and celebrated Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, as well as other vital and iconoclastic singers of that era, including Bricktop, Lucille Bogan, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters, Victoria Spivey, Lucille Hegamin, and the fascinating Gladys Bentley. The net is further extended to include jazz (Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Dinah Washington), pop, rock ‘n’ roll (Big Mama Thornton), gospel (Sister Rosetta Tharpe), cabaret (Mabel Mercer, Joséphine Baker), soul (Carolyn Franklin) and folk (Joan Armatrading, Meshell Ndegeocello, Toshi Reagon, and Laura Love). Of course in this episode the musical categories are as flexible as are the sexual and gender boundaries, so expect to see a lot of genre-hopping as well among these subversive, innovative, and pathbreaking women of color.

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.” Occasional guests from the “business” (singers, conductors, composers, coaches, and teachers) lend their distinctive insights. At Countermelody’s core is the interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. At Countermelody’s core is the interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. And please head to my Patreon page at www.patreon.com/countermelody to pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available only to Patreon supporters are currently available.

Episode 21. Charles Holland (Black History Month II)

February 8, 2020African American Singers, BHM2023WK4, Black History Month, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Singers in Old Age, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAirborne Symphony, Al Jolson, Après un rêve, Arthur Goldschmidt, Au fond du temple saint, Benny Carter, Charles Gounod, Charles Holland, Cinq mélodies de Venise, Clair de lune, Dennis Russell Davies, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, En sourdine, Fi-Yer!, Fletcher Henderson, Four Saints in Three Acts, Frank Morgan, Gabriel Faure, George Frideric Handel, Gertrude Stein, Hall Johnson, Harlem Madness, Harry de Groot, Honor Honor, Hullabaloo (1940), Jack P. Loorij, Jacqueline Bonneau, Langston Hughes, Laurie Anderson, Leo Driehuys, Leonard Bernstein, Les pecheurs de perles, Live a-Humble, Marc Blitzstein, Marco Bakker, Morgenlich leuchtend, My Mammy, New Born Again, O Superman, Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire, Peanuts Holland, Prepare Me One Body, Ralph Linsey, Robert Shaw, Roland Hayes, Roméo et Juliette, Semele, Spirituals, Talk About a Child That Do Love Jesus, Virgil Thomsoncountermelody

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Today’s episode, the second in my Black History Month series, is a tribute to the extraordinary African American tenor Charles Holland (1909-1987) whose career spanned more than four decades. Early appearances as a vocalist with the band of Luther Henderson and the Hall Johnson Negro Choir led to his Hollywood film debut and to appearances on the Broadway stage. In 1949, frustrated with the lack of career opportunities for an African American tenor, Charles Holland departed for Europe, where he enjoyed a distinguished career. Late in his life he experienced an extraordinary career resurgence through an association with American conductor Dennis Russell Davies, which led to his belated Carnegie Hall solo recital debut in 1982 at the age of 73, as well as serving as the inspiration for Laurie Anderson’s surprise 1981 pop hit, O Superman. Musical excerpts include live and studio recordings over more than 40 years and a wide swath of genres.

Countermelody is a new podcast devoted to the glories of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great classical and opera singers of the past and present with the help of guests from the classical music field: singers, conductors, composers, coaches, agents, and voice teachers. 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 interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. Please also visit the Countermelody website for updates, additional content, and to pledge your support. www.countermelodypodcast.com