Tag Archives: David Savran

Episode 245. Tell It to the World – Germany

February 27, 2024African American Singers, Broadway, Crossover, Great Tenors, Interview, Needle Drop, Opera in Translation, Operetta, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Voiceless WondersAdolf Dallapozza, Alan Jay Lerner, Alfred Grünwald, Annika Meier, Axel Kottmann, Axel Wandtke, Barry Kosky, Bastian Reiber, Bendix Dethleffsen, Benedict Fellmer, Birger Heymann, Carol Schuler, Carsten Meyer, Claudia Kühne, Cole Porter, Dagmar Manzel, David Savran, Der schwarze Hecht, Der Silbersee, Eberhard Büchner, Eduard Mörike, Eine Frau die weiß was sie will, Emil Sautter, Erik Charrell, Erika Gesell, Ersan Mondtag, Franz Allers, Frederick Loewe, Fritzi Massary, Georg Kaiser, George Kranz, Gerd Natschinski, Gisela May, Gottfried Bretifuss, Guido Masanetz, Günter Neumann, Hanne Roos, Hans Schenker, Hans Schindler, Herbert Fritsch, Herr Fressack und die Bremer Stadtmusikanten, Horst Schulze, Hubert Wild, Hugo Wolf, Im weißen Rößl, In Frisco ist der Teufel los, Ira Gershwin, James Holmes, Jean-Pierre Cornu, Jessica Früh, Johannes Fehring, Julia Koci, Julia Migenes, Jürg Amstein, Jürgen Degenhardt, Karel Deseure, Karin Huebner, Kiss Me Kate, Kitty Carlisle, Koen Schoots, Kurt Weill, La Cage aux Folles, Lady in the Dark, Lawrence Leonard, Lena Schwarz, Leonard Bernstein, Linie 1, Lisa-Katrina Mayer, Louis Verneuil, Magdalena Irmann, Marcel Prawy, Matthias Witting, Mauritius Janowski, Max Hansen, Mein Freund Bunbury, Michael Brandt, Michael Wilhelmi, Miriam Maertens, My Fair Lady, Nehrun Aliev, No Ticket, Olive Moorefield, Oscar Straus, Oscar Wilde, Paul Burkhard, Paul Godwin, Rahel Hubacher, Rainer Luhn, Ralph Benatzky, Ralph Möbius, Ralph Steitz, Richard Baravalle, Richard Wester, Rio Reiser, Robert Hanell, Robert Hunger-Bühler, Roland Gilbert, Roman Hinze, Roman Vinuesa, Ruth Rosenfeld, Stephen Sondheim, Susanne Wolf, Tags: Jerry Herman, Tell It to the World, The Black Rider, Tom Waits, Ton Scheine Scherben, Volker Ludwig, West Side Story, White Horse Inn, William Gaxton, William S. Burroughscountermelody

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Here is the second of a two part series in celebration of David Savran’s new book, Tell It to the World: The Broadway Musical Abroad, a monumental study on transnationalism and the Broadway-style musical. In the first part, David and I spoke about (and played examples from) the rich culture surrounding musicals in South Korea. Today’s episode focuses on Germany and the influx of Broadway musicals since World War II. Although the German-speaking world has a long tradition of popular music theatre, most notably operetta, the arrival of American musicals (beginning in 1955 with Kiss Me, Kate) made a very big splash. In 1961, My Fair Lady opened in West Berlin, became a sensational success, and permanently changed the shape of German musical theatre. Both Kiss Me, Kate and My Fair Lady are part of the first wave of Broadway musicals that have become part of the standard repertoire in state-subsidized theatre (the others include Cabaret, Anatevka (Fiddler on the Roof), West Side Story, La Cage aux Folles, and Hair).

We also look at the development of home-grown Broadway-style musicals in both West and East Germany from the 1960s through the 1980s and their subsequent impact on the work of experimental theatre makers. The next to last chapter of the book studies the musical farces directed by the great theatrical innovator, Herbert Fritsch, since 2011. The last focuses on the work of Barrie Kosky at the Komische Oper Berlin and how he turned that house into the foremost theatre in Germany for innovative re-imaginings of Broadway musicals, with emphasis on iconoclastic stagings by Kosky (and other directors) of the work of Kurt Weill. We play examples from many of the thrilling productions about which David writes which deserve to be known by a much wider audience. Along the way we also listen to nearly a century’s worth of performances by some legendary performers of German operetta and musicals, including Fritzi Massary, Olive Moorefield, Gisela May, Max Hansen, Dagmar Manzel, Horst Schulze, Ruth Rosenfeld, Julia Migenes, Julia Koci, and the late Rainer Luhn.

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.

Episode 241. Tell It to the World: Korea

February 16, 2024Broadway, Great Baritones, Interview, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Twentieth Century MusicAhn Sung-woo, David Savran, Dreamgirls, Ensemble Sinawi, Frankenstein (Korean musical), Han A-reum, HE5, Henry Krieger, Hero (Korean musical), Hong Ji-min, Im Kwon-taek, Jambinai, Jeon Min-seop, Ji Ji-gil, Kim Ai-ja, Kim Bo-mi, Kim Hae-sook, Kim Kwang-Seok, Kim Min-ja, Kim So-hyang, Kim Sook-ja, Kim Young-gil, Korean musicals, KPOP (musical), Lee Il-woo, Lee Ja-ram, Lee Jae-hwa, Lim Tae-kyung, Mitchell Eyen, Oh Sang-joon, Park Eun-mi, Seopeonje (Korean musical), Shin Joong-hyun, Sim Eun-yong, Sook Bae-In, Soon Bae-In, Tell It to the World (Savran), The Days (Korean musical), The Kim Sisters, The Pearl Sisters, Wang Yongbum, Yi Chung-jun, Yu Byeong-koo. Choi Jae-hyuk, Yu Kyung-hwa, Yun Il-sang, Yun Sim-deokcountermelody

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Last month Oxford University Press published my dear friend David Savran’s Tell It to the World, a monumental study on transnationalism and the Broadway-style musical. The book focuses on two specific markets: South Korea and Germany. To help David get the word out about his book, over the next few weeks I am featuring two different episodes of Countermelody in which David and I discuss the themes and concerns of the book, as well as playing short musical examples to illustrate those points. Today’s episode focuses on South Korea and the influx of US-influenced musical styles to the country from the 1920s through to KPOP. We hear examples of the American influence on Korean popular music, from the first Korean singer to record Western-style music in the 1920s, the tragic Yun Sim-deok, through to the breezier (and occasionally psychedelic) musical stylings of such 60s pop groups as The Kim Sisters and He5, through to the folk-pop of the intense Kim Kwang-Seok and the innovative yet tradition-infused music of fusion groups Ensemble Sinawi and Jambinai. David also explains how Seoul became a center for musicals in Asia, with American musicals like Dreamgirls adapted for a specifically Korean audience, while also discussing a number of popular Korean musicals, most of them with Korean themes: Hero, The Days, Frankenstein, and Seopyeonje. This last work is based on a popular 1993 film; and both works, film and musical, spearheaded the resurgence of interest in the tradition of pansori, a uniquely Korean brand of dramatic solo theatrical performance dating back to the 18th century. Finally, and inevitably, there is a discussion of how KPOP has “infiltrated” the Korean musical, particularly with the brief appearance on Broadway of the musical KPOP.

Episode 234. David Savran Introduces Carol Brice (Listeners’ Favorites V)

January 14, 2024African American Singers, Art Song, Black History Month, Broadway, Comic Relief, Crossover, Full-Figured Baroque, Gustav Mahler, Lieder, Listeners' Favorites, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Operetta, Orchestral Songs, Pop Icons, Protest Songs, Schubert, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century Music, Twentieth Century OperaAlto Rhapsody (Brahms), Black History Month 2021, Burton Lane, Carol Brice, Claibe Richardson, David Savran, DuBose Heyward, Edward H. Boatner, El amor brujo, Finian’s Rainbow, Franz Schubert, Frederick John Easthope Martin, Fritz Reiner, George Gershwin, Giuseppe Sarti, Gustav Mahler, Hall Johnson, Harold Arlen, Jean Berger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Alden Carpenter, John DeMain, Johnny Mercer, Jonathan Brice, Kenward Elmslie, Larry Marshall, Leo Taubmann, Lucretia West, Magnificat (Bach), Manuel de Falla, Marc Blitzstein, Mercer), Odette Myrtil, Porgy and Bess, Regina (Blitzstein), Robert Franz, Robert MacGimsey, Robert Shaw, Roland Hayes, Samuel Krachmalnick, Saratoga (Arlen, Serge Koussevitzky, Spirituals, Stephen Foster, Sweet Little Jesus Boy, The Grass Harp, Thomas Carey, We Shall Overcome, Yip Harburgcountermelody

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This Listeners’ Favorites episode serves a dual purpose: first it is a celebration the publication this week of my partner David Savran’s new book, Tell It to the World: The Broadway Musical Abroad, by Oxford University Press. (I’ll be doing two episodes with David on this book in March in conjunction with the book launch.) Second, David introduces us to one of his favorite Countermelody episodes, a 2021 Black History Month celebration of the life, voice, and career of the great African American contralto Carol Brice (1916-1985), whose career encompassed both Broadway and opera. It’s that very versatility that most attracted David to Brice’s work. He describes to us his first exposure to a variety of her recordings, from Falla to Finian’s Rainbow. I myself first heard Carol Brice in her recording of “Sweet Little Jesus Boy,” which exemplifies all her musical virtues: simplicity and directness of utterance, lack of sentimentality, and deep identification with both text and music. Add to this a voice of such depth and refinement and a technique so secure that she is almost without equal. From her early career outings as the first African American to win the coveted Naumburg Award, through her appearances on the Broadway stage and in Porgy and Bess, Carol Brice brought an emotional honesty to her performances such as is rarely encountered in any field of genre. On this episode I feature her in a wide range of live and commercial recordings from Marc Blitzstein’s Regina to concert pieces by Brahms and Mahler, focusing in particular on a matchless 1947 song recital with her brother Jonathan Brice as her collaborator. Brice’s second husband, the baritone Thomas Carey is also featured in a pair of recordings. Thank you, David, for re-introducing my listeners to this great artist, and congratulations on your monumental new book!

Episode 218. Edith Piaf, storyteller

October 10, 2023In Memoriam, Mezzo Madness, Music for a World in Crisis Series, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Twentieth Century Music, VerismoAlberto Castillo, André Bernheim, Ángel Cabral, David Savran, Edith Piaf, Enrique Dizeo, Georges Moustaki, Gilbert Bécaud, Jean Cocteau, Jean Wiener, Lee Ja-ram, Louis Poterat, Marguerite Monnot, Michel Emer, Michel Rivgauche, Noel Commaret, Raymond Asso, René Cloërec, René Rouzaud, Ricardo Tanturi, Robert Chauvigny, Seopyeonje, Shimcheongga, Théo Sarapo, Yun Il-sangcountermelody

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Today is the 60th anniversary of the death of Edith Piaf, the greatest singer in the history of French popular music. She died on the eve of my third birthday, and since I have always allowed myself to indulge in a favorite singer or topic for my birthday episodes, I am focusing on La Môme Piaf, whose uniquely powerful voice and interpretations have been of central importance to me since the first time I heard her. When I take on such an iconic figure for a podcast episode, I try to examine them from a unique or unusual perspective. Today vis-à-vis Piaf, I focus on her unique performing style which combined subtlety and dramatic understatement alongside violent emotions and extroverted vocalism as reflected in her live performances and recordings. In this regard, I find an unusually cogent comparison with the Korean tradition of pansouri singing, which is a topic addressed by my brilliant friend, the theatre scholar David Savran, in his new book, Tell It to the World, which is being published by Oxford in early 2024. But mostly I dissect a number of Piaf’s most powerful story-songs such as “L’accordéoniste,” “Les amants d’un jour,” “Milord,” and “La foule,” written by composers and lyricists such as Marguerite Monnot, Michel Rivgauche, and Michel Emer, who were powerful allies in her search for material that best suited her extraordinary and iconoclastic gifts, which have come to personify the heart and soul of la ville de lumière, her beloved Paris.

Episode 124. Dave’s Picks

January 14, 2022African American Singers, Art Song, Bel canto, Broadway, Comic Relief, Giacomo Puccini, Great Baritones, Happy Birthday, Lieder, Needle Drop, Pop Icons, Queer Pride, Schubert, Singers of Color, Twentieth Century MusicAlban Berg, Alfred Drake, Anneliese Rothenberger, Arnold Schoenberg, Arthur Winograd, Bette Midler, Beverly Wolff, Birgit Nilsson, Bobby Freeman, Burt Bacharach, Carl Orff, Carmina Burana, Carolyn Leigh, Cathy Berberian, Claude Debussy, Colette, Colin Davis, Cy Coleman, David Crosby, David Savran, Don Giovanni, Dusty Springfield, Eddie Fisher, Elisabeth Soderstrom, Erich Kleiber, Erwin Wohlfahrt, Eugene Ormandy, Fiddler on the Roof, First Choice, Franco Corelli, Françoise Ogéas, Frank Zappa, Friedrich Rückert, George Forrest, George Gershwin, George Schick, George Shirley, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustav Mahler, Hal David, Harve Presnell, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Il Trovatore, Ira Gershwin, Jane Berbié, Janis Ian, Jefferson Airplane, Jerry Bock, Joni Mitchell, Judith Raskin, Julia Migenes, Kismet, L’enfant et les sortilèges, Le nozze di Figaro, Leonard Bernstein, Leontyne Price, Leopold Ludwig, Lisa Della Casa, Little Me (Coleman and Leigh), Lorin Maazel, Luciano Berio, Lulu (Berg), Maria Callas, Maurice Maeterlinck, Maurice Ravel, Montserrat Caballé, Nina Hagen, Norma, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paul Burkhard, Pelleas et Melisande, Pierre Boulez, Porgy and Bess, Richard Rodgers, Rita Tritter, Robert Craft, Robert Wright, Sammy Davis Jr., Sandy Denny, Sheldon Harnick, South Pacific, Stevie Wonder, The Byrds, The Mothers of Invention, The Supremes, Tim Buckley, Trouble in Tahiti, Tullio Serafin, Turandot, Vincenzo Bellini, Wladimiro Ganzarolli, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yvonne Mintoncountermelody

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Today’s special episode is in honor of my best friend, partner-in-crime and Corona-lockdown buddy, the distinguished theater scholar and author David Savran, who this week once again celebrated another journey around the sun. I invited him to be the first guest in a new series I will be presenting on Countermelody featuring colleagues and friends speaking about the music (and the singers!) that have most deeply affected and inspired them. Perhaps it’s not surprising that in the nearly two decades that we have known each other, that David’s taste in music and singers often falls neatly in step with mine. But there are many other musical paths and byways that he has explored that have taken him in quite different directions. Our spirited dialogue is punctuated by music that spoke to him most deeply in the first 25 years of his life. We hear samples of everything and everyone from Sammy Davis, Jr. to Grace Slick, from Cathy Berberian to Joni Mitchell, from Lisa della Casa to Nina Hagen, from Alfred Drake to Frank Zappa. The episode also constitutes a fascinating exploration of the role that memory and nostalgia play in the creation of musical tastes and preferences. Happy Birthday, Davey, and thanks for being my guest!

Episode 4. Jessye and Her Forebears

October 13, 2019African American Singers, Art Song, BHM2023WK1, In Memoriam, Interview, Needle Drop, Singers of ColorCamilla Williams, Daniel Gundlach, David Savran, Dorothy Maynor, Elisabeth Soderstrom, Franz Schubert, Gerard Souzay, Great Day in the Morning, Jessye Norman, Martina Arroyo, Robert Wilson, Rose Caron, Serge Koussevitzky, Shirley Verrettcountermelody

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Due to a last minute change of plans, I have decided to bring you the first in what I hope will be a series of episodes devoted to excerpts from LP recordings in my collection which have either never been reissued on CD or have had only limited availability. This first episode includes a tribute to the late Jessye Norman, with a nod to some of the great African American singers who paved the way for her in her career. In addition, my special guest the theatre scholar David Savran speaks about the significance of her collaborations with director Robert Wilson. Other singers heard include Gérard Souzay, Elisabeth Söderström, Dorothy Maynor, Camilla Williams, Martina Arroyo, Shirley Verrett, and Leontyne Price, none of which have received widespread release beyond their initial appearance on LP. I conclude the episode with a special greeting from the balcony of my Air B&B in Napoli, where I am celebrating my birthday.

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