Tag Archives: Anthony Lewis

Episode 211. Janet Baker @ 90

August 25, 2023UncategorizedAchim von Arnim, Anthony Lewis, Beverly Sills, Caterino Mazzolà, Christian Friedrich Henrici, Christopher Hassall, Claudio Monteverdi, Clemens Brentano, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Dido and Aeneas, Ernest Lush, Felice Romani, Geoffrey Chaucer, Gioacchino Rossini, Giovanni Francesco Busanello, Giuseppe Patanè, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Heinrich Heine, Henry Purcell, Hippolyte et Aricie, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Janet Baker, Jean Baptiste Racine, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Pritchard, Klaus Growth, L’incoronazione di Poppea, La Cenerentola, La Clemenza di Tito, Martin Isepp, Maurice Delage, Melos Ensemble, Nahum Tate, Neville Marriner, Norman Del Mar, Norman Foster, Ottorino Respighi, Picander, Pietro Metastasio, Raymond Leppard, Renata Scotto, Richard Strauss, Robert Ferguson, Roberto Ascoli, Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, Thomas Dunhill, Troilus and Cressida, Vasil Stefanov, Vincenzo Bellini, William Shakespeare, William Walton, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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This past week the opera world was plunged into mourning over the sudden death of Renata Scotto. Originally I had intended this week’s episode to be devoted to her memory. But I can’t even speak her name without bursting into tears. In other words, I need more time as I try to come to terms with her demise. I have decided to feature the matchless singing actor in the first episode of Season Five. In the meantime, we have another momentous occasion (and artist) to acknowledge: the 90th birthday of the English Rose: the phenomenal Janet Baker. Given that I could probably devote an entire podcast to Dame Janet, and given the wealth of material in my personal collection featuring this artist, much of it rare and unusual, I have chosen to feature this beloved artist in her third full Countermelody episode. There are few vocal artists in the history of classical music who have exhibited greater versatility than Janet Baker; this episode features many rare performances across the entirety of her long career of repertoire in which she had virtually no equal, as well as music in which she also excels but which might prove surprising. Thus we hear the expected mélodie, Lied, British song and Bach aria alongside Purcell’s Dido and pants roles by both Mozart and Richard Strauss. But we also hear such surprises as Monteverdi’s Poppea (sinuously and surprisingly sexy), Bellini’s Romeo (opposite Beverly Sills), William Walton’s Cressida (in the 1976 version of his opera Troilus and Cressida refashioned expressly for Baker), and a sublime extended orchestral song by Respighi, as well as the ultimate jaw-dropper, Rossini’s Cenerentola! We wish long life and continued health and vitality to one of the greatest mezzo-sopranos of the twentieth century!

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 158. Russell Oberlin

August 19, 2022Art Song, Full-Figured Baroque, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Queer Pride, Twentieth Century MusicA Midsummer Night’s Dream, Alexander Schneider, Alfonso el Sabio, Alfred Deller, Alice Parker, Anthony Lewis, Benjamin Britten, Bernard Krainis, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Charles Bressler, Claudio Monteverdi, countertenor, Daniel Arnault, Denis Stevens, Douglas Williams, François Couperin, Georg Solti, George Frideric Handel, Godric of Finchale, Henry Purcell, Hugo Wolf, Italienisches Liederbuch, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Blow, John Dowland, John Dunstable, John Ferrante, Joseph Iadone, Leonard Bernstein, Ludus Danielis, Martha Blackman, New York Pro Musica, Noah Greenberg, Paul Maynard, PDQ Bach, Peter Schickele, Robert Shaw, Russell Oberlin, Seymour Barab, St. Godric, Stoddard Lincoln, The Play of Daniel, Thomas Dunn, Troubador songs, William Byrdcountermelody

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Hearing the voice of countertenor Russell Oberlin (1928 – 2016) as a soloist with the Robert Shaw Chorale was one of the formative experiences of my early life. I doubt that I would ever have become a countertenor myself had it not been for that beacon of a voice as my shining ideal and example. Many years after his early retirement from singing he extended kindness and generosity to me in a way that has always remained with me. Since I have begun the podcast and with rare exceptions, I generally shy away from discussing other countertenors. Today I break my silence on the topic to present to you the greatest countertenor of them all in all his uniqueness. From his early days as a founding member of the New York Pro Musica and his series of medieval and renaissance music, through his electrifying stage appearances as Oberon in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, through his standard-setting appearances in Handel and his unexpected but charming expertise as a singer of art song and reciter of poetry: all these aspects of Oberlin’s versatility and artistry are herein represented. A special vocal guest is the tenor Charles Bressler (1926 – 1996), like Oberon a founding member of the New York Pro Musica, who is heard in four duets with Oberlin. Perhaps Oberlin’s greatest achievement lies in the simplicity and nobility of his performances of the music of Henry Purcell, who is also well-represented here. This episode is a must for all lovers of great singing in general and specifically for all who want to hear what well-equalized, technically balanced and secure countertenor singing sounds like.

Episode 89. The Radiant Heather Harper

May 16, 2021Art Song, Full-Figured Baroque, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Happy Birthday, In Memoriam, Lieder, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Schubert, Twentieth Century MusicAlban Berg, Anthony Lewis, Anton Webern, Benjamin Britten, Bernard Haitink, Carlos Païta, Claudio Monteverdi, Colin Davis, David Atherton, Francesco Cavalli, Francis Poulenc, Franz Schubert, Frederick Delius, Frederik Prausnitz, Gary Bertini, George Frideric Handel, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Heather Harper, Helen Donath, Henry Purcell, Horst Stein, Jessye Norman, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Somary, John Shirley-Quirk, Kieth Engen, Leif Segerstam, Luigi Dallapiccola, Maurice Ravel, Meredith Davies, Michael Tippett, Nicolai Gedda, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Norman Mittelmann, Otakar Kraus, Paul Hamburger, Peter Grimes, Pierre Boulez, Raymond Leppard, Rudolf Kempe, Sanford Sylvan, Steuart Bedford, Walter Süsskind, War Requiem, William Walton, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartcountermelody

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I have dreamed of doing an episode on the great Irish soprano Heather Harper (1930 – 2019) since before I began the podcast. As we we find ourselves in close proximity to both the anniversary of her birth on 8 May 1930 and her death on 22 April 2019, I feel compelled to bring that dream to life. A peerless artist, probably most renowned today for her close collaboration with Benjamin Britten, whose War Requiem she learned ten days before the premiere when the scheduled artist, Galina Vishnevskaya, was refused by the Soviet government to participate in the performance. Her crackerjack musicianship is heard to full advantage in 20th century works by Michael Tippett, Leif Segerstam, Anton Webern, Luigi Dallapiccola, Francis Poulenc, William Walton, and Alban Berg. But her focused, flexible instrument also made her an ideal performer of the Baroque repertoire (we hear her in Purcell, Monteverdi, Cavalli, Bach and Handel). And the surprising stores of power she could summon made her a vital and sympathetic heroine in the operas of Wagner, Mozart, Strauss, and Gounod, as well Britten’s Ellen Orford, of which she was the definitive interpreter. She also excelled in the intimate medium of the Lieder recital. Vocal guest stars include Jessye Norman, Helen Donath, Nicolai Gedda, John Shirley-Quirk, Norman Mittelmann, Nicolai Ghiaurov, and others. Conductors heard include Pierre Boulez, Rudolf Kempe, Colin Davis, Raymond Leppard, Gary Bertini, Meredith Davies, Horst Stein, Anthony Lewis, Carlos Païta, Bernard Haitink, Steuart Bedford, Hans Swarowsky, David Atherton, and Gianandrea Gavazzeni. Fasten your seat belts and settle for an overdue tribute to the dazzling versatility and artistry of the great Heather Harper.

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 31. Janet Baker (Mezzo Madness II)

April 19, 2020Art Song, Lieder, Mezzo Madness, Needle Drop, SchubertAnthony Lewis, Ariodante Dopo notte, Brahms Komm bald, Carmen, Che farò senza Euridice, Das Lied von der Erde, Die Götter Griechenlands, Dominick Argento, Dusty Springfield, Eduard Mörike, Edvard Grieg, Ernest Lush, Fauré Le Secret, Friedrich Rückert, From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, Gabriel Faure, Geoffrey Pratley, George Frideric Handel, Georges Bizet, Gluck Orfeo ed Euridice, Gustav Mahler, Handel Ariodante, Handel Tamerlano, Hugo Wolf, Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, Johann Mayrhofer, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Josef Krips, Kathleen Raine, Kerstin Meyer, London Bach Society, Mahler Das Lied von der Erde, Mahler Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, Mahler Rückert-Lieder, Mahler Von der Schönheit, Marjory Kennedy-Fraser, Martin Isepp, Matthäus-Passion, Maurice Ravel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Mörike-Lieder, Orfeo ed Euridice, Paul Hamburger, Paul Steinitz, Peter Aston, Rafael Kubelik, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ravel Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, Raymond Leppard, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rückert-Lieder, Schubert Abendstern, Songs of Travel, St. Matthew Passion, Stan Vincent, Tchaikovsky Adieu forêts, The Maid of Orleans, Virginia Woolf, Wolf Verborgenheitcountermelody

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Few singers have more affected my life in a more fundamental way than the great Janet Baker. This episode seeks to pay humble tribute to that exceptional artist. I have sought long and hard to find repertoire and performances that my listeners might not have heard before. While this is not an exhaustive survey (methinks a second JB episode is lurking around the corner), I do touch on many of the cornerstones of her repertoire, including Ralph Vaughan Williams, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Gabriel Fauré, Dominick Argento, and Gustav Mahler. I also feature composers less often associated with her, including Edvard Grieg, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Hugo Wolf, and Peter Aston. Her musical collaborators represented in the episode include Martin Isepp, Paul Hamburger, Josef Krips, Rafael Kubelik, Colin Davis, Geoffrey Parsons, Anthony Lewis, and Michael Tilson Thomas, among others. I present to you The High Priestess of Song. (I also pay passing tribute to the Swedish mezzo-soprano Kerstin Meyer, who died this past week at the age of 92, and Dusty Springfield, whose 81st birthday we celebrated posthumously this week.)

Countermelody is a 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 visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/countermelody to pledge your support at whatever level you can afford.