Tag Archives: Angelo Zanardini

Episode 491. Bubbles on the Nile, Verdi Edition

September 18, 2026African American Singers, Bel canto, Bubbles on the Nile, Claudia Muzio, Forgotten Divas, Giuseppe Verdi, Listeners' Favorites, Margaret Price, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, NYCO Divas, Renata Scotto, Singers of ColorAchille de Lauzières, Alexandre Dumas fils, Andrea Maffei, Angelo Zanardini, Anna Moffo, Anton Guadagno, Antonio García Gutiérrez, Antonio Piazza, Antonio Somma, Arrigo Boito, Attila, Beverly Sills, Camille du Locle, Carol Neblett, Chris Nance, Claudia Catania, Claudia Muzio, Don Carlo, Edward Downes, Ernani, Ernst Märzendorfer, Eugène Scribe, Fiorenza Cossotto, Francesco Maria Piave, Friedrich Schiller, Georges Pretre, Giovanna d’Arco, Giuseppe Patanè, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace Bumbry, Gundula Janowitz, I Lombardi, John Stewart, John Wustman, Joseph Méry, La Traviata, Macbeth, Margaret Price, Margaret Tynes, Maria Callas, Massimo Freccia, Nabucco, Nello Santi, Oberto, Otello, Pál Varga, Renata Scotto, Richard Bradshaw, Salvadore Cammarano, Shirley Verrett, Temistocle Solera, Un ballo in maschera, Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare, Zacharias Wernercountermelody

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Here’s another edition of what has beocme one of my (and my listeners’) favorite series of episodes, one that I have entitled “Bubbles on the Nile.” The title refers to a wonderful 1985 LP of the same name which featured favorite divas in unfamiliar or unexpected repertoire. Since publishing my first Bubbles on the Nile episode last spring, I have revisited the “franchise” with an all-Handel episode, and today, I’m back with an all-Verdi edition. The format of these episodes is thus: we always begin with Beverly herself singing a role or aria not typically associated with her, in this case, “Ernani, involami” from a 1967 radio recording for German radio. From there, I bring you a series of surprising performances from some of my (and, I hope your) favorite singers: Gundula Janowitz singing Odabella in Attila, Claudio Muzio singing Giselda in Lombardi, Margaret Price singing the title role of Giovanna d’Arco, Shirley Verrett singing Cuniza in Verdi’s first opera Oberto, Fiorenza Cossotto singing Amelia in Ballo, Callas singing Eboli, Bumbry singing the Trovatore Leonora, a rare 1960 RAI recording of Anna Moffo singing Desdemona, Carol Neblett as the Violetta of one’s dreams, a hair-raising live performance of Renata Scotto singing Abigaille in Nabucco, and Margaret Tynes as a compelling, idiosyncratic Lady Macbeth. Be prepared for some thrilling singing coming at you from all over the place!

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

Episode 489. The Infinite Variety of Regina Resnik

September 6, 2026Arie antiche, Art Song, Broadway, Crossover, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Contraltos, Gustav Mahler, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, NYCO Divas, Richard Wagner, Singers in Old Age, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoA Little Night Music, Achille de Lauzières, Achim von Arnim, Alexander Borodin, Andrea Maffei, Angelo Zanardini, Cabaret, Camille du Locle, Camille Saint-Saens, Charles Gounod, Charles Simon, Clemens Brentano, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Die Walküre, Don Carlo, Donald Chan, Edward Downes, Félix Lope de Vega, Ferdinand Lemaire, Francesco Maria Piave, Fred Ebb, Friedrich Schiller, George Forrest, Gérard de Nerval, Gustav Mahler, Homenaje a Lope de Vega, Ingmar Bergman, Ivan Zakharovich Surikov, Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian, Joaquín Turina, John Kander, Joseph Méry, Jules Barbier, Kismet, Konstantin Balmont, La Reine de Saba, Macbeth, Mantovani, Michel Carré, Paul Gemignani, Pierre Berton, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Regina Resnik, Richard Wagner, Richard Woitach, Robert Merrill, Robert Wright, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Samson et Dalila, Serge Prokofiev, Stephen Sondheim, The Maid of Orleans, William Shakespeare, Zazacountermelody

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On August 30 we observed (posthumously) the 104th birthday of the unique, the phenomenal Regina Resnik, who died in 2013 just a few short days before her 91st birthday. This commemoration, combined with my recent acquisition (at the flea market in my Berlin neighborhood) of the LP of her single operatic recital recording, provided the impetus for this long-overdue Countermelody celebration of an exceptional career that spanned nearly 50 years and encompassed exceptional portrayals on the world’s operatic stages, Broadway, and the concert platform. This episode presents Resnik in the very earliest days of her career as a soprano singing arias from Macbeth, Zazà, and La Reine de Saba, then following her vocal trajectory downward into the dramatic mezzo fach in which she celebrated her greatest career triumphs. Excerpts from her “On the Wings of Opera” operatic recital offer a fuller picture of her in that repertoire, in arias of Saint-Saëns, Wagner, Verdi, and Tchaikovsky. Then we dip into a rare 1968 recording of art song with pianist Richard Woitach, which offers a dazzling program of French, Geman, Russian, and Spanish song, amply sampled. The program ends with Resnik in three Broadway selections, including live stage performances of both Cabaret and A Little Night Music. I’m thrilled to pay tribute to this iconic New Yorker whose incandescent artistic sensibility turned everything she touched into gold.

Episode 450. Onelia Fineschi Sings the Undoing of Women

March 30, 2026Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Great Baritones, Great Tenors, Happy Birthday, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Opera in Translation, VerismoAbbé Prevost, Alexandre Chatrain, Alfredo Catalani, Andrea Chénier, Ángel de Saavedra, Angelo Zanardini, Arrigo Boito, Arturo Basile, Bruno Ragacci, David Belasco, Domenico Oliva, Émile Erckmann, Falstaff, Francesco Albanese, Francesco Maria Piave, Galliano Masini, Giacomo Puccini, Gino Sinimberghi, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giuseppe Morelli, Giuseppe Verdi, Henri Meilhac, Henri Murger, John Luther Long, Jules Massenet, L’amico Fritz, La Boheme, La forza del destino, La Wally, Luigi Illica, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Marco Praga, Mario del Monaco, Mefistofele, Nicola Daspuro, Onelia Fineschi, Otello, P. Suardon, Pagliacci, Philippe Gille, Pietro Mascagni, Riccardo Santarelli, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Tito Gobbi, Tosca, Toti dal Monte, Tullio Serafin, Umberto Giordano, Victorien Sardou, Wilhelmine von Hillerncountermelody

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Onelia Fineschi (1921 – 2004) was one of the finest Italian lyric sopranos of her era. Probably most famous today for having provided the singing voice of Gina Lollobrigida in a 1948 filmed version of Pagliacci, she had a wide-ranging repertoire and an up-and-down career trajectory that lasted, however, nearly 25 years. Initially I became interested in Fineschi because one of my listeners gifted me with a visually arresting Cetra LP of her 1947 recordings of various opera arias, which, upon listening, revealed an equally arresting and technically solid voice with a characteristically Italian timbre. But the more I explored what little I could about her, several issues that emerged seemed particularly relevant to Women’s History Month. For instance, many 20th century female singers had truncated careers or complicated personal lives because of the demands that their voices made upon their lives. I uncovered some ambiguous comments regarding Fineschi’s marriage to the tenor Francesco Albanese (1912 – 2005), that seemed to imply that this may have been the case with her. Furthermore, much of the standard repertoire that she sang bears out the contention of French philosopher, scholar and author Catherine Clément that opera enacts “the undoing of women.” Nearly every excerpt I play explores this theme, from the “slutty” Nedda in Pagliacci (who, we are led to believe, as a free spirit, gets what she deserves) to Tosca, Manon, Mimì, Margherita in Mefistofele, Desdemona, Leonora de Vargas, Maddalena di Coigny, and Cio-Cio-San, all of them expiring, sometimes gently, sometimes violently to the most glorious music. So apart from simply resuscitating a fine lyric soprano, this episode at least scratches the surface on the topic of women in opera from a feminist vantage point, centering around the problems of inherent misogyny and sexual abuse of women that is practically baked into the business itself. Featured voices alongside Fineschi’s include Tito Gobbi, Mario del Monaco, Giuseppe di Stefano, and Mr. Fineschi himself, Francesco Albanese.

Episode 308. Mezzos on the Verge

November 20, 2024African American Singers, Art Song, Behind the Iron Curtain, Black History Month 2024, Forgotten Divas, French Opera, Full-Figured Baroque, Great Contraltos, Great Tenors, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Singers of Color, VerismoAngela Morley, Angelo Zanardini, Boris Khaikin, Brigitte Fassbaender, Camille Saint-Saens, Cavalleria Rusticana, Charles Gounod, Charles Mackerras, David Climie, Dido and Aeneas, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Ebe Stignani, Elektra, Elena Obraztsova, Émile Augier, Ferdinand Lemaire, Franco Corelli, Georges Pretre, Gian Carlo Menotti, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, Giovanni Verga, Giulietta Simionato, Götterdämmerung, Guido Menasci, Gwendolyn Killebrew, Henry Purcell, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Inge Borkh, Irwin Gage, Jean Madeira, Jorge Mester, Karl Lemcke, Kashchey the Immortal, Khovanshchina, Lev Steinberg, Modest Mussorgsky, Muriel Smith, Nadezhda Obukhova, Nahum Tate, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Pierre Boulez, Pietro Mascagni, Regina Resnik, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Ronald Cass, Samson et Dalila, Sapho, Shirley Verrett, Tatiana Troyanos, The Medium, Umberto Berrettoni, Wally Stottcountermelody

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I am taking a short break before posting the final in my Mexican Opera Singers miniseries to bring you a compilation episode that is sure to get your blood flowing. I’ve entitled it “Mezzos on the Verge,” and that is exactly what it is: mezzo-sopranos portraying characters in extreme emotional situations. Whether it is Dalila (portrayed by Ebe Stignani) summoning the pagan gods to give her strength to conquer an infatuated strongman; Elena Obraztsova or Nadezhda Obukhova casting spells or predicting the future; Giulietta Simionato as Santuzza confronting Franco Corelli’s faithless Turiddu on the steps of the Sicilian village church on Easter morning; Gwendolyn Killebrew as Waltraute imploring help of her sister Brünnhilde to circumvent the Twilight of the Gods; Jean Madeira as Klytemnästra desperately seeking rest for her troubled soul; Shirley Verrett as Sapho preparing to throw herself into the sea; or Tatiana Troyanos as Dido dying of a broken heart – there’s something for each of us who might be feeling themselves in over their heads these days. Unlike most of us. however, (and luckily for us as well), each of these magnificent mezzos is expressing that anguish in glorious 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 support at whatever level you can afford.