Tag Archives: Alexandre Dumas fils

Episode 315. Gilda Cruz-Romo

December 15, 2024African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Holiday Music, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Richard Wagner, Singers of Color, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAbbé Prevost, Ah Perfido!, Alexandre Dumas fils, Amilcare Ponchielli, Andrea Chénier, Andrea Maffei, Ángel de Saavedra, Angelo Campori, Anna Bolena, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Arrigo Boito, Attila, Carlo Bergonzi, Carlo Felice Cillario, Carmen, Colenton Freeman, Domenico Oliva, Emerson Buckley, Ernani, Felice Romani, Francesco Maria Piave, Friedrich Schiller, Gaetano Donizetti, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini, Gilda Cruz-Romo, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Henri Meilhac, Henri Murger, Herrera de la Fuente, Il Trovatore, John Alexander, Jorge del Moral, Joseph Rescigno, Julius Rudel, La Boheme, La forza del destino, Le nozze di Figaro, Lorenzo da Ponte, Ludovic Halévy, Ludwig van Beethoven, Luigi Illica, Luisa Miller, Macbeth, Manon Lescaut, Marco Praga, Martin Smith, Matteo Manuguerra, Nicola Rescigno, Nikki Giovanni, Norma, Peter Maag, Pierre Beaumarchais, Portia White, Prosper Mérimée, Renato Simoni, Riccardo Muti, Richard Karp, Richard Wagner, Salvadore Cammarano, Tannhäuser, Temistocle Solera, Tobia Gorrio, Turandot, Umberto Giordano, Victor Hugo, Vincenzo Bellini, Walter Herbert, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Zacharias Werner, Zubin Mehtacountermelody

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While I was growing up, Gilda Cruz-Romo was a fixture on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera. At the time, I did not fully appreciate her, as I thought of her as a second-string singer on the roster. I saw her once on the Met tour as Desdemona opposite Jon Vickers, but for reasons none too flattering to me, I undervalued her. In recent years, however, I have completely revised my opinion, and now think that Gilda Cruz-Romo was both the most significant Mexican soprano ever to appear on the world’s stages, but also simply one of the finest lirico-spinto sopranos of the twentieth centuries. Fortunately there are many people that agree with me, including some devoted fans who have posted an extraordinary number of live recordings of the artist on YouTube and elsewhere. And this is especially helpful because, incredibly, Cruz-Romo never made any commercial recordings. This episode fully explores the career and repertoire of our subject for today, and includes performances of the soprano in her core Verdi and Puccini repertoire (including such surprises as Odabella, Lady Macbeth, and Turandot!), as well as less expected forays into Mozart and bel canto. Throughout her virtues shine forth: a plangently beautiful voice with a particularly radiant top wedded to an incredibly secure technique, which afforded her enormous flexibility and coloratura facility. Added to this, and paramount to her artistry, is a dedication to her craft and to music which sweeps all before it and raises her work into the realm of the sublime. I think of this episode (the last completely new episode I’ll be putting out this season) as a pre-birthday tribute, as the diva turns 85 years old on February 12, 2025. Other singers heard on the episode are tenors Carlo Bergonzi, Colenton Freeman, and John Alexander, and baritone Matteo Manuguerra; among the conductors are Zubin Mehta, Nicola Rescigno, Riccardo Muti, Peter Maag, and Julius Rudel.

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 290. Ileana Cotrubaș Revisited

September 17, 2024Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Happy Birthday, Ileana Cotrubas, Listeners' Favorites, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartA Midsummer Night’s Dream, Achille de Lauzières, Ádám Fischer, Alexander Pushkin, Alexandre Dumas fils, Alfred Maria Willner, Alfredo Kraus, Antoni Ros-Marbà, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Arrigo Boito, Benjamin Britten, Bernard Haitink, Brent Ellis, Bruno Bartoletti, Camille du Locle, Christoph Friedrich Bretzner, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Eugene Onegin, Francesco Maria Piave, Friedrich Schiller, Gabor Ötvös, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Gottlieb Stephanie, Gregory Kunde, Heinz Reichert, Helmut Winschermann, Henri Murger, Hora Andreescu, Ileana Cotrubas, James Bowman, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Méry, La Boheme, La rondine, Luigi Illica, Luis Lima, Mabel Perelstein, Mark Ermler, Pagliacci, Peter Pears, Piero Cappuccilli, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Silvio Varviso, Simon Boccanegra, Trudy Hines, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Schöne, Yevgeny Onegincountermelody

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More than four years ago, I published my very first bonus episode on Patreon, which I offer here in a fancy new setting and with a wonderful new coda. When I first published an episode on the great Ileana Cotrubaș in honor of her 81st birthday, I promised a bonus episode which would offer further examples of this treasurable artist’s plangent and pathos-filled singing. This episode explores delves deeper into Cotrubaș’s artistic legacy, examining roles that she took on later in her career, including Elisabetta in Don Carlo, Nedda in Pagliacci, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, and Desdemona in Otello. In addition, I play excerpts of roles that lay somewhat outside of her normal repertoire, including Tatyana in Yevgeny Onegin, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This is followed by two extended live excerpts of her two greatest roles, Mimì in La Bohème and Violetta in La Traviata. The entire episode is capped with an exquisite example of Cotrubaș singing Bach, in anticipation of a new all-Bach episode at the end of the week.

Episode 288. Teresa Żylis-Gara Revisited

September 10, 2024Behind the Iron Curtain, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, In Memoriam, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAbbé Prevost, Alexandre Dumas fils, Alfredo Kraus, Andrea Chénier, Antonio Somma, Ariadne auf Naxos, Auguste Barbier, Benvenuto Cellini, Berislav Klobučar, David Belasco, Die Zauberflöte, Emanuel Schikaneder, Eugène Scribe, Francesco Maria Piave, Franco Bonisolli, Giacomo Puccini, Gianfranco Masini, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Hector Berlioz, Henri Meilhac, Henri Murger, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Jacek Kaspszyk, James Levine, Jean Fournet, John Alexander, John Henry Long, José Carreras, Jules Massenet, La Boheme, La Traviata, Leif Segerstam, Léon de Wailly, Luciano Pavarotti, Luigi Illica, Manon, Peter Lindroos, Philippe Gille, Piero Visconti, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Richard Woitach, Seiji Ozawa, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Tannhäuser, Teresa Żylis-Gara, Umberto Giordano, Un ballo in maschera, Wiesław Ochman, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Brendelcountermelody

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Today I revisit the life, career, and sumptuous voice of the great Polish soprano Teresa Żylis-Gara, who died three years ago on 28 August 2021 at the age of 91. The soprano was for the most part shockingly under-recorded, so I have scoured the internet for examples of her live in performance, and unearthed examples of her singing Wagner, Massenet, Puccini, Verdi, Strauss, Giordano, Mozart, and Berlioz with some divine tenorial counterparts including Franco Bonisolli, José Carreras, Luciano Pavarotti, John Alexander, Alfredo Kraus, Wiesław Ochman, Peter Lindroos, and Piero Visconti. I know I am not the only one who revels in the rich velvety timbre of Mme. Żylis-Gara, and each of the tenors heard alongside her presents her versatile voice in a different facet of its beauty.

Episode 284. Claudia Muzio Revisited

August 27, 2024Art Song, Bel canto, Claudia Muzio, Crossover, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, VerismoAlexandre Dumas fils, Alfred Bachelet, Alfred de Musset, Alphonse Daudet, Antônio Carlos Gomes, Antonio Ghislanzoni, Arrigo Boito, Bianca e Fernando, Carlo Roti, Cavalleria Rusticana, Cecilia, Claudia Muzio, David Belasco, Domenico Gilardoni, Emidio Mucci, Émile Moreau, Enrico Golisciani, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Eugène Adénis-Colombeau, Eugène de Mirecourt, Felice Romani, Francesco Cilea, Francesco Maria Piave, Francesco Merli, George Frideric Handel, Giacomo Puccini, Giacomo Rossi, Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, Giovanni Verga, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Verdi, Guido Menasci, Henri Murger, Il segreto di Susanna, John Luther Long, L’Arlesiana, La Boheme, La Traviata, Léo Delibes, Leopoldo Marenco, Licinio Refice, Lorenzo Molajoli, Luigi Illica, Madama Butterfly, Madame Sans-Gêne, Otello, Paride ed Elena, Pietro Mascagni, Ranieri de’ Calzabigi, Renato Simoni, Rinaldo, Salvator Rosa, Torquato Tasso, Umberto Giordano, Victorien Sardou, Vincenzo Bellini, William Shakespearecountermelody

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Claudia Muzio was known as “the Duse of Song,” a title that might be lost somewhat in time, since it refers to the great stage actress Eleanora Duse, felt to rank among the greatest actresses of all time. She is one of a handful of singers that number among my most beloved vocal artists of all time and all genres. As such, Muzio is not only featured in the theme music to every single Countermelody episode, she was also the rightful star of Countermelody’s hundredth episode. In choosing the repertoire for that episode, I made a too-large selection of must-hear Muzio selections. These spilled over into a bonus episode which I am now releasing for all of my listeners. Among those recordings we hear: Muzio singing Handel; two recordings of Muzio singing Mimì, including her earliest recording, made in 1911; several unusual so-called verismo arias; Muzio as both classicist (Gluck) and bel cantista (Bellini); Muzio singing light classical parlor songs; and then two capstones of her recorded legacy: the “Dio ti giocondi” duet from Otello with the Italian dramatic tenor Francesco Merli; and the death scene from Licinio Refice’s Cecilia, a staged sacra rappresentazione written expressly for Muzio. These last two works were also heard in my recent Renata Scotto memorial tribute, and make for a fascinating comparison between these two great artists.

Episode 270. Eleanor Steber Revisited

July 5, 2024Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Queer Pride, Rescue Mission, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAl Goodman, Al Vann, Alexandre Dumas fils, Alfred Bachelet, Allen Rogers, Augustus Toplady, Barron Smith, Bernard Zaslav, Brian Sullivan, Buddy DeSylva, Carlo Gozzi, Carlo Zangarini, Cesare Sterbini, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Claude Debussy, David Belasco, David Broekman, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Dimitri Mitropoulos, DuBose Heyward, Édouard Guinand, Edwin Biltcliffe, Eleanor Steber, Eugène Adénis-Colombeau, Francesco Maria Piave, Francis Scott Key, Frank Loesser, Frederick Flaxington Harker, Fritz Stiedry, George Gershwin, Giacomo Puccini, Gian Carlo Menotti, Giangiacom Guelfi, Gioachino Rossini, Giovanni Battista Guarini, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Verdi, Guelfo Civinini, Hector Berlioz, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Hugo Wolf, Igor Kipnis, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Ira Gershwin, James Melton, Jean-Philippe Rameau, John Stafford Smith, Juan López de Úbeda, Jussi Bjorling, L’enfant prodigue, La Fanciulla del West, La Traviata, Les nuits d’été, Lilla Kalman, Lohengrin, Maytime (Romberg). Harold Barlow, Nelson Eddy, Oklahoma!, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Heyse, Pembroke Davenport, Pierre Beaumarchais, Porgy and Bess, Renato Simoni, Richard Rodgers, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Rida Johnson Young, Robert K. Evans, Robert Katscher, Rosalind Elias, Rupert Brooke, Samuel Barber, Sigmund Romberg, Sonya Monsoff, Spanisches Liederbuch, Sterling Hunkins, Théophile Gautier, Thomas Hastings, Turandot, Vanessa (Barber), Where’s Charley?, Wilfrid Pelletier, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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I sat in my apartment in Berlin on the Fourth of July wondering how, after the events of this past Monday, I can possibly pay tribute to our nation as it “celebrated” its birthday. Then it hit me: since I would never in a million years produce an episode of patriotic musical material, why not pay tribute to a great American singer instead? I had already been planning an upcoming bonus episode on ELEANOR STEBER, the singer I consider to be one of the greatest (if not the greatest) soprano that our country has ever produced! Nearly two years ago, with the help of my dear friend Michelle Oesterle, who was Eleanor’s step-daughter, I produced an episode dedicated to her; today’s episode will not delve so much into the (still-controversial) person that Eleanor was, but rather offer a cross-section, over the course of more than 40 years, of the wide variety of styles and repertoire in which Steber excelled. Who else could traverse a range of repertoire from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Mozart, Rameau to Wagner, Berlioz to Romberg with such ease and joyful authority? Not only do I explore her longevity, I explore her unparalleled prowess as a vocal technician; as well as her well-documented bad treatment by the Metropolitan Opera and its then-general manager, Rudolf Bing. I also look at the recordings that Steber and her then-husband, Michelle’s father, produced on their own ST/AND label in the early sixties, and then hear Steber sing some quintessentially American music from classic musicals. Along the way, I consider some serious topics, including betrayal, alcoholism, and the power of embedded memory. Finally, I consider the possibility that Eleanor Steber’s celebrated portrayal of Minnie in La fanciulla del West might just offer a possible solution for the divisiveness and political turmoil in which our country currently finds itself. Featured guest singers on the episode include Nelson Eddy, Brian Sullivan, Rosalind Elias, and Jussi Björling; musical collaborators include Dimitri Mitropoulos, Igor Kipnis, Allen Rogers, Fritz Stiedry, and her frequent concert and radio collaborators Howard Barlow and Edwin Biltcliffe.

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 262. Sylvia Sass Revisited

May 17, 2024Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Bel canto, Broadway, Crossover, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Richard Strauss, Sylvia Sass, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Verismo, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAdalbert von Chamisso, Alain Lombard, Aldo Ceccato, Alexandre Dumas fils, Alfred Grünwald, Alfred Maria Willner, András Kórodi, András Schiff, András Sebestyén, Andrea Maffei, Andrea Martin, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Béla Bartók, Béni Egressy, Charles Gounod, Cosi fan tutte, Cristina Brancato, Emmerich Kálmán, Endre Ady, Ervin Lukács, Ferenc Erkel, Ferenc Szőnyi, Fernando Previtali, Francesco Maria Piave, Frauenliebe und -leben, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Puccini, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Giorgio Moroder, Giovanni Foiani, Giuseppe Adami, Giuseppe Verdi, Gräfin Mariza, Heinz Reichert, Hunyadi László, I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata, Irene Cara, Iván Bradányi, János Kovács, Jesus Christ Superstar, José Carreras, Joseph von Eichendorff, Jules Barbier, Julius Brammer, Keith Forsey, La rondine, La Traviata, Lamberto Gardelli, Lili Áldor, Lorenzo da Ponte, Lucia di Lammermoor, Ludwig van Beethoven, Macbeth, Maria Grazia Piolatto, Michel Carré, Michel Plasson, Neil Shicoff, Nicola Ghiuselev, Patrizia Dordi, Péter Wolf, Richard Strauss, Richard Woitach, Robert Schumann, Roméo et Juliette, Rosanna Didonè, Ryszard Karczykowski, Salvadore Cammarano, Sylvia Sass, Temistocle Solera, Tim Rice, Tommaso Grossi, Tosca, Vier letzte Lieder, Walter Scott, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Zsolt Durkócountermelody

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Several summers ago I published my first episode celebrating the artistry of Sylvia Sass which primarily featured her 1984 album of pop songs sung in Hungarian. At the time I called it, without any irony, the finest crossover album of the 1980s and one of the best of all time. Sass is an artist who continues to engage discourse. Many of the opinions, theories, and input encountered therein are predicated on dissecting the reasons for her short international career. My objective with today’s episode, however, is simply to celebrate Sass’s singing in all its glory, extending from the standard Italian operatic repertoire with which she is most associated through the thorniest contemporary idioms to the subtlest art song to the most refined Mozart singing, with, once again, a nod to the pop material which initially drew me to her. I always say that I believe in giving flowers to our favorite artists when they are still around to receive them, and today’s bouquet is a stunning display full of color and variety humbly presented to one of my favorite divas.

Episode 213. Julia Varady

September 7, 2023Art Song, Bel canto, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century Opera, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlexandre Dumas fils, Alfredo Catalani, Algis Zhuraitis, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Aribert Reimann, Arta Florescu, Attila (Verdi), Béla Bartók, Carlo Colombara, Carol Litvin, Christian Friederich Henrici, Claus H. Henneberg, David Belasco, Der fliegende Holländer, Don Giovanni, Elena Bashkirova, Francesco Maria Piave, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Gerd Albrecht, Giacomo Puccini, Giovanni da Gammera, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Giuseppe Verdi, Heinrich Heine, Heinz Wallberg, Herbert von Karajan, Il Trovatore, Jacques Offenbach, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Henry Long, Julia Varady, Klára Gombossy, La Traviata, La Wally, Leopold Hager, Lucio Silla, Luigi Illica, Madama Butterfly, Marcello Bufalini, Modest Tchaikovsky, Neville Marriner, Picander, Pique-Dame, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Raimund Grumbach, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Salvadore Cammarano, Siegfried Jerusalem, Temistocle Solera, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Sawallischcountermelody

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A week ago the extraordinary Hungarian-German soprano Julia Varady turned 82. As she is one of my favorite sopranos, I have presented her a few times on the podcast, but never on an episode devoted exclusively to her. There is no time like the present to rectify that situation. Varady had an exceptional and unusual career, centered mostly in Europe, where she was celebrated first as a Mozart soprano, later for her fearless portrayals of the full range of Verdi heroines. Elsewhere in the world, primarily because of her recordings, she was considered mostly a Strauss singer, who also dipped her toe into some of the Wagner jugendlich dramatisch heroines. As today’s traversal proves, she was all that, but also much more: a singer with a gutsy dramatic instinct and a technique that allowed her to take on roles that might have been a few sizes too large for her vocally, but which she portrayed with vigor and fearlessness such as have been matched by only a few of the very greatest sopranos. It is also my objective in this episode to consider her accomplishment independently from that of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, her husband from 1977 until his death in 2012, regarded by many as one of the most significant baritones of the last century. But my (perhaps idiosyncratic) view is that, particularly because of their very different artistic personalities, her achievements, especially on the operatic stage, outrank his. See if you agree with me. We also hear contributions from tenors Siegfried Jerusalem and Franco Tagliavini, soprano Arta Florescu (Varady’s teacher), and baritone Raimund Grumbach, along with pianists Elena Bashkirova and Aribert Reimann (whose compositional masterpiece Lear is also sampled), and conductors Wolfgang Sawallisch, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Algis Zhuraitis, Jesús López-Cobos, Neville Marriner, Herbert von Karajan, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, and István Kertész.

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.