Tag Archives: Christian Morgenstern

Episode 466. Baritones Both Butch and Bonnie



Today’s episode features baritones of all stripes (with the occasional bass-baritone) in a program focusing primarily on song in its various manifestations. Whether that be Broadway and pop tunes (sung by Alfred Drake, Allan Evans, and Harve Presnell); Schubert (performed by Doda Conrad, Bernard Diamant, Max van Egmond, Robert Holl, and Siegfried Lorenz); other German Lieder (with Victor Braun and Heinrich Schlusnus); Russian and Nordic song (sung by Matti Lehtinen, Yuri Mazurok, Erik Sædén, Martti Talvela, Knut Skram, and Gerhard Hüsch); or folk song (as recorded by Arne Dørumsgaard, John Bröcheler, and Spyros Sakkas), there’s something here for everyone. And to avoid accusations of prejudice against arias, I round off the episode with three arias: one from opera (Tannhäuser, sung – in Italian! – by Apollo Granforte), one oratorio (Handel’s Samson, with Thomas Stewart), and one operetta (from Viktoria und ihr Husar, performed by Bernd Weikl).

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 296. Dan’s Operatic Picks



I’m still under the weather, but I can’t let that keep me from posting my usual Tuesday episode! Here is another recycled bonus episode, this one posted two years ago in honor of my birthday, which features some of my favorite singers. At that time I posted a brand new episode entitled “Dan’s Picks,” but many of the best selections ended up on the cutting room floor. That hurt my heart so much that I had no choice but to do a companion episode which features a number of things that were lacking from the main episode: first of all, more tenor goodness (Aksel Schiøtz, Franco Corelli, Sándor Kónya, Jussi Björling, Richard Crooks, Ian Partridge); second of all, more burly baritones (Jorma Hynninen, Ettore Bastianini, Riccardo Stracciari, and the lesser-known megawatt talent Hugo Hasslo). Also heard are a number of sopranos that have not received enough Countermelody airtime (Edith Mason, Maria Vitale, Andrée Esposito, Lucia Popp), as well as a number of favorites that we (I?) simply can’t get enough of: Muzio, Lehmann, Olivero, Farrell, Steber. I even set aside modesty to include a brief clip of me from a demo I recorded some time ago, back when I could still sing! Every selection in this episode is very dear to my heart; I hope you will enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed putting it together.